Name: Tonkatsu, Japanese Pork Cutlet
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: Pork loin; Salt; blackpepper; panko; flour; egg; cooking oil; tonkatsu sauce; cabbage

Tonkatsu is known as deep-fried pork cutlet (とんかつ, 豚かつ) in Japan, one of my favorite dish in Japanese restaurants. It is crispy outside and juicy inside, often served with tonkatsu sauce and shredded cabbage.

Tonkatsu is made of tender pork loin that is breaded and deep-fried to crunchy. It is not that difficult to make Tonkatsu at home. Follow my instructions, it only takes about 30mins to make some pork cutlet at home. For the sauce, you can use tonkatsu sauce or teriyaki sauce from Japanese or other asian grocery store.

ingredients

Pork loin chop: 3pieces(~1/2″ thick)
Salt: a pinch
Blackpepper: a pinch
Panko: 50g
All purpose flour: 20g
Egg: 1
Cooking oil for egg: 1tbsp
Cooking oil for deep-frying: 3cups or more depending on pot size
Tonkatsu sauce or teriyaki sauce: 3tbsp
Cabbage: 100g (optional)

instructions

Prepare the panko:
Measure 50g panko and place it in a deep container.
Spray a little water to moist panko. set aside.

Prepare the pork loin chops:
Remove the bone if there is any.
Pound both sides of the meat with mallet(using the back of a knife if you don’t have mallet).
Season both side of the meat with salt and ground blackpepper.

Prepare the breading:
Crack an egg, add 1tbsp cooking oil. Whisk together until well combined.

Place beaten egg onto a dish, 20g flour onto another dish.

Coat both side of pork with flour, shake off any excess.
Dip pork into the egg mixture.
Coat pork with panko. Gently press the panko onto pork.

Repeat the process for all pork loin.
First deep-frying:
Add 3cups of cooking oil into a small pot. You may need more oil if using a large pot/pan.
Heat until 340F under medium heat. Measure the temperature using a thermometer.
Gently put one piece of pork into oil, fry for 1-2mins under medium-low heat. Make sure the oil temperature doesnot go above 340F.

Flip the pork and cook for another 1min.
Take out the pork and place it on a wire rack to rest for at least 5mins before second deep-frying.

Repeat the process to deep-fry all porks.
Second deep-frying:
If there is a lot breadcrumbs in the oil from first deep-frying, scoop out with a fine-mesh strainer.
Bring the oil to 355F, fry each side of the pork for 30sec. The 2nd frying uses high temperature to create nice golden color and make the tonkatsu crispy.

Take out the pork and place on a wire rack.
For serving:
Cut each tonkatsu into small pieces(~2cm wide).

Shred some cabbage, serve with tonkatsu sauce.

Tonkatsu, Japanese Pork Cutlet

Tonkatsu, Japanese Pork Cutlet

ingredients

instructions

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