Tonkatsu 豚カツ

Tonkatsu is another dish introduced from the occidental kitchen (supposedly by the English) during the Meiji period. Over time though the dish has become completely Japanese and is eaten together with rice and soup. An integral part of any tonkatsu dish is the accompanying, finely graded cabbage (whether this is from western influence or of Japanese origin we don't know).

Similar to sukiyaki, tonkatsu is a good dish with which to introduce foreigners to Japanese cuisine. When Axel's parents got somewhat tired of the Japanese food in Kyoto we brought them to a tonkatsu restaurant and they took an immediate liking to it.

The recipe below is almost completely taken from RunnyRunny999 who made an excellent video on how to make tonkatsu.


Tonkatsu

• Pork cutlet
• Wheat flour
• Beaten eggs
• Panko (bread crumbs)
• Salt and black pepper
• Cooking oil

First the preparation of the cutlet. If the cutlet has a rim of fat this need to be cut into sections to prevent shrinkage during cooking. Then tenderise the meat with a meat hammer (if available) or pierce it all over with a fork. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.

The easiest way to handle the coating/breading of the cutlet is to have three separate plates, one for the flour, one for the beaten egg and one for bread crumbs. Coat the cutlet in flour and then dip into the eggs and finally cover the cutlet in bread crumbs. We use bread crumbs as we have not been able to find panko (which is somewhat larger bread flakes) in Sweden.

Instead of deep frying, which can be laberous, messy not to mention smelly to do at home we simply stir fry the prepared cutlet in a large amount of oil (we use cold pressed rapeseed oil). For an even more low fat version the cutlet can be baked in the oven according to RunnyRunny999's video.

Serve with fine shreds of cabbage, rice, miso soup and tonkatsu sauce (such as Bull dog sauce).