Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork Cutlet)

“Japanese Pork cutlet with Special Miso Sauce that whets your appetite”

Once my non-Chinese friend asked me why Chinese likes to marinate the meat for ALL sorts of cooking other than BBQ? Will it really make a huge difference in taste? I was speechless. Frankly, I do my marinating for meat, even if it’s to be added in my noodle cooking, fried or soup. Some said it is a must to elevate the taste of the meat… Some said marination is to hush up the ‘meaty’ (or ‘fishy’) smell in it… And, I could tell you that it is pretty much a habit learned from mum since young, more than any other reasons… (smile).

Gradually, I learned to save such effort in some of my cookings. I finally believed that as long as the ingredients are fresh, it is not a must to marinate or marinating for long hours. Once again, I am convinced with the theory. This pork cutlet was not marinated beforehand. It was as simple as just brushing some honey on the chops, I got myself a very flavorsome fried pork cutlet, still! Well, not forgetting that I had my savory Miso sauce topped on it, of course… (chuckles).

And, there is a special trick, to save your oil for frying the cutlet, an easier way to achieve its golden appearance, with even shorter frying time!

SIMPLE, flavorful, new easy tricks to get the most delicious crispy Tonkatsu here!

Ingredients
8 slices of loin pork chops, boneless (palm sized big, thickness of chop about 1 – 1.5cm)
4 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of plain flour

1 cup of cooking oil (for shallow frying)

For Batter (A):
2 tablespoons of soy milk (unsweetened or low sugar)
2 eggs
* Mix the above and stir well.

For Batter (B):
100 gram of store-bought breadcrumbs
1 piece of 4″ long french loaf, blended till crumbs OR 6 pieces of cream crackers, mashed
* Combine the above.

Special Miso Sauce:
*Click for recipe here

Method:
1) Rinse and pat dry the pork chops. Use a knife to lightly cut a few slits on the entire surface of the chop. Then, use the back of the knife to lightly chop on the surface crosswise. On both sides, brush with honey. Set aside.

2) Get ready your electrical steamer or wok filled with boiling water on stove (with fine wire mesh steam racks in wok). Place the pork chops directly in the steamer or on the steamer rack without a plate. Cover with lid. Steam for 3 minutes. When done, remove from steamer and set aside to let it cool a little. Steam pork chops in batches, if steamer is not big enough.

3) Dust some flour on both sides of the chop. Then, dip the whole chop into the egg solution, followed by coating breadcrumb mixture on both sides again. Repeat steps for all the remaining chops. Leave all coated pork chops on the large dish to stand for 5 minutes before frying.

4) Heat wok with oil on medium fire. Place pork chop into wok to fry for 1 minute, flip over to fry for another minute, till both sides turn golden brown. Drain oil on wire strainer, and then, place on serving dish. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of my Special Miso sauce, and serve with my Mango & Strawberry Salsa, or steamed Japanese white rice.

A piece of my Tonkatsu counts about 180kcal.

Tips: Store-bought bread crumbs is those ready-packed Japanese finely blended bread crumbs, use for deep frying. (Brand type I used: Nissin soft panko)
* French loaf has to be blended (as finely blend as possible, but it’s ok to be a little coarse for more interesting crunchy bites) using electrical blender, before mixing with the store-bought fine crumbs. Alternatively, use cream crackers. I used seaweed flavored cream crackers for extra flavor, but the choice is yours.