Japanese Fried Pork (Tonkatsu) Recipe
Tonkatsu (fried pork) is one of my favorite recipes. Deep-fried pork coated with panko is packed full of flavor and hard to resist. The panko creates a crunchier (compared to regular bread crumbs) coating and retains a juicy pork inside. You don’t have to go to a Japanese restaurant to enjoy this dish. This Japanese Fried Pork (Tonkatsu) Recipe will teach you how to make tonkatsu right in your own kitchen!
What is Japanese Tonkatsu?
Tonkatsu (トンカツ) is a combination of two words. The word “ton” means pork and “katsu” means cutlet. It is similar to Chicken katsu チキンカツ which follows a similar recipe, but uses chicken rather than pork. This Japanese dish consists of a breaded (panko) and a deepfried pork cutlet. I recommend that you eat tonkatsu with a large vegetable salad, rice, and soup. When enjoying tonkatsu at Japanese restaurants in Japan, it is often served with a mountain of shredded cabbage and Japanese tonkatsu sauce. The large amount of vegetables helps to balance the deep-fried pork. It can also be served with lemon and salt (as I demonstrate in this recipe) or with miso sauce. Please try different flavorings and let me know which one you like best!
Tips for Making Japanese Fried Pork (Tonkatsu)
- Thoroughly pound the meat to allow the seasonings to penetrate deeply into the pork cutlet.
- You can add flour, mixed eggs and panko once, but I like to do it twice to create a crunchier outer layer.
- I prefer eating tonkatsu with lemon and salt, but tonkatsu can be enjoyed with tonkatsu sauce instead.
- In Nagoya, there is also a famous variation of tonkatsu served with miso sauce. This is also delicious and I highly recommend trying the tonkatsu with miso sauce
- While katsu means “cutlet”, it can also means “to win” in Japanese. This dish is often served before important tests and sports games. If you eat the dish, you can win at life!
Japanese Fried Pork (Tonkatsu) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Pork
- Salt (For Taste)
- Black Pepper (For Taste)
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Egg
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 Cup Panko
- 2 Cups Vegetable Oil (Depends on size of frying pan. You will need a depth of about 1-2 cm.)
Instructions
- Make shallow cuts on the 2 pieces of pork on both sides (watch video below for reference)
- Pound both sides of the pork with the back of the knife
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the pork
- Cover the pork with flour
- Mix 1 egg with a small amount of water (~2 tbsp)
- Dip the flour-covered pork into the egg
- Cover the pork with panko. The pork can now be fried, but I like to cover the pork with flour, egg, and panko again. This creates a thicker outer layer resulting in more crunch when finished. I recommend doing a second coating with the flour, egg, and panko.
- Add vegetable oil into a frying pan until it is about 1-2 cm deep.
- Once the oil is hot, add the pork pieces and fry for 2 minutes on each side
- After frying for 2 minutes on both sides, stick a tooth pick into the pork. If nothing sticks to the toothpick, the pork cutlet is done. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the meat.
- Remove the pork cutlet from the oil, cut and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt. Tonkatsu sauce can be used as an alternative if you have it available. Please enjoy!
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