How To Make Tonkatsu (Recipe)
Official video on the recipe author's channel for the same dish. No media bytes downloaded or republished.
Official cooking video · Just One Cookbook · YOUTUBECrispy Japanese Double-Fried Pork Tonkatsu with Sesame Sauce
Two servings of Japanese pork loin cutlets coated in flour, egg and panko, fried twice and served with sesame tonkatsu sauce.
Ingredients
servings: 2 · Check ingredients
Steps
- 01
If using cabbage and cucumber, wash, shred thinly and refrigerate. Crush both types of sesame coarsely and mix with 4 tbsp tonkatsu sauce.
- 02
Make shallow cuts through the fat-edge connective tissue of the two pork chops, pound lightly and season both sides with 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or about 1/4 tsp table salt) and black pepper.
- 03
Set out flour, egg whisked with 1/2 tbsp oil, and panko in separate dishes. Coat pork in flour, egg and panko in order; rest 5 minutes.
- 04
Pour oil about 5cm deep into a deep heavy pot and heat to 170°C with a thermometer; do not fill the pot more than halfway with oil.
- 05
Fry one cutlet at a time for 1 minute on each side at 170°C, then lift out and rest on a rack for 4 minutes; repeat for the second cutlet.
- 06
Raise oil temperature to 180°C, fry each cutlet again for 30 seconds per side and measure its thickest center rather than relying on timing alone.
- 07
Check pork reaches at least 63°C; fry longer if it has not. Rest out of the oil for at least 3 minutes before slicing and serving with sesame sauce and optional vegetables.
Before you cook
Flour and panko contain wheat, egg wash contains egg and sesame is an allergen. Bottled tonkatsu sauce may contain wheat, soy, fish or mollusks such as oyster; check the specific label. Do not cross-contaminate raw pork and salad. Verify at least 63°C in the center and rest for 3 minutes after removal. Never leave hot oil unattended. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, eat within 3–4 days, reheat to 74°C.
Allergens: wheat (flour, panko, often bottled sauce), egg, sesame, soy/fish/crustacean shellfish possible in packaged tonkatsu sauce; check label
Image & source credits
These illustrations stand in for food photos.
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