Japanese tonkatsu on rice

A couple of months ago (yes, this photo is that old), Sue Ern came over for dinner instead of trying to rub elbows with the Orchard Road human traffic and I decided to make tonkatsu because we both are meat eaters. We had a great time catching up over a quick bit of frying, eating and make up. I thought I’d post my tonkatsu recipe because many people don’t know easy it is to make. It’s Japanese but really, it’s just pork chops. What makes it Japanese is the “naked baby” mayo and the tonkatsu sauce (I like the Bull Dog brand).

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops (you can use loin too)
• 2 tbsp soy
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)
• White pepper powder
• Flour for dusting/coating
• 1 egg
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying

Directions:

Sandwich the pork chops between two pieces of cling wrap and flatten with a mallet until about 1/3” thick.

Make the marinade by mixing the soy, sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine and pepper together. Add the pork chops to the marinade and until the chops are well coated. Leave for a couple of hours to marinade or overnight.

Heat up about half an inch of oil in a fying pan till medium-high.

While the oil is heating up, line up the following in shallow dishes: flour, egg, Panko bread crumbs. Take each piece of pork and dust with flour. Next dip into the egg mixture quickly and coat both sides. Then transfer to the dish with bread crumbs and coat well with the breadcrumbs. You may have to use your fingers to press the crumbs in.

Fry the pork chops in the oil until the outside is golden and the pork chops are cooked through.

Serve on a bed of warm Japanese rice with “naked baby” mayo and tonkatsu sauce. Here, I added some rocket/arugula leaves dressed with mayo to the dish. And there you have it, Japanese tonkatsu.

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The best thing about tonkatsu is that you can make a big batch and store it in the freezer, sandwiched between waxed freezer paper or baking parchment. Just pop them into the fridge compartment a couple of hours before cooking to thaw and you’ll have a really simple easy meal that you can whip up in no time.

Megan, this recipe’s for you :)