Tonkatsu
Photo: Minseong Kim · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Tonkatsu emerged in the 1890s as yoshoku Western-influenced Japanese cuisine, when chef Motojiro Kida adapted the French cotelette de porc with a panko crust. By the 1920s it was Tokyo's everyman lunch. Tonkatsu Maisen in Aoyama and Butagumi in Nishi-Azabu run the modern definition: kurobuta or branded pork, sliced thick, fried at low temperature for juiciness.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Pork, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 20 minTotal 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 pork loin cutlets (rosu) or fillet (hire), 200g each, 1.5cm thick
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 30g plain flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 120g panko breadcrumbs
  • Vegetable oil, for deep frying (about 1 litre)
  • 300g cabbage, shredded fine
  • Tonkatsu sauce or Bulldog brown sauce, to serve
  • Cooked Japanese short-grain rice and miso soup, to serve

Method

  1. Score the fat edges of the cutlets to prevent curling. Season with salt and white pepper.
  2. Coat each cutlet in flour, then egg, then panko, pressing the crumbs to adhere.
  3. Heat oil in a deep pan to 170C. Lower the cutlets in one at a time and fry 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
  4. Rest on a wire rack for 3 minutes (not paper, the crust will sog).
  5. Slice across the grain into 1.5cm batons. Plate with shredded cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, rice and miso soup.

Tip from the editors. Panko goes flat fast; buy a fresh box. Resting on a rack keeps the crust crisp.

Where to eat tonkatsu

Tonkatsu in Tokyo

Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten ★ 4.4

¥¥ JapaneseUntil 22:45

Tonkatsu Maisen in Tokyo's Aoyama serves kurobuta cutlets until 22:45 nightly, the rare big-room tonkatsu open after 22:00 with cabbage and rice refills.

TryKurobuta hire katsu set

TipLast-order 22:15. Counter seating turns faster than tables; the katsu sando travels home as a midnight snack.

Directions

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