Japanator Kitchen: Katsudon

5:00 PM on 03.03.2010   |   Dale North

Mmm, katsudon. If you were to approach me and begin the sentence "What is your favorite..." I'd blurt out "katsudon!" before you even have a chance to finish. I don't even care if you were asking about food or not, as katsudon is my favorite thing ever, let alone favorite dish. 

I grew up eating this Japanese comfort food, and its savory smell and sweet-but-salty taste really bring me back to my childhood. It's junky, high-calorie, belly-warming comfort in a bowl, and at just about any given time there's nothing else I'd rather eat. People think of sushi and ramen as Japanese food. I don't. Katsudon is the most Japanese thing I can think of. 

Looking at the ingredients, this recipe seems very simple, but it turns out to be deliciously rewarding in the end as you're left with a big bowl of magic that somehow becomes way greater than any one of its parts. The combination of flavors is what makes it work, from the onions and sauce to the pork cutlet. In my mind, any substitution or removal makes for a lesser dish.

Hit the jump to watch our video and get directions on how to make this wonderful dish. 

How to make Katsudon from Dale North on Vimeo.

Ingredients (makes one bowl)

Pre-cooked white rice

Tonkatsu (pork cutlet)

• 1 pork steak
• 1 egg, beaten
• canola oil
• salt and pepper
• flour
• panko bread crumbs

Sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin (cooking wine can be used)
• 1/4 cup dashi (chicken broth can be used)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/3 white onion, sliced thinly
• 2 eggs, beaten

Start out by beating a pork steak to tenderize and thin it out a bit. Then coat it in flour fully. From the flour, move it into a dish with the beaten egg in it, covering it completely. Finally, place the steak into panko bread crumbs to coat fully.

Cooking Tip: Place the coated pork into the refrigerator for a bit, maybe 20 minutes. This will help the coating bind properly and will make for a crispier tonkatsu.

Place coated pork into hot canola oil and fry for about 4 minutes. Remove and place on a cooling rack. After cool, slice into strips and set aside.

For the sauce, combine the soy sauce, mirin, dashi and sugar in a small sauce pan or very small skillet. Over medium heat, add onions and let this mixture simmer for a few minutes to loosen up the onions and bring out the flavor.

If you do not have access to mirin (Japan's version of cooking wine), regular western white cooking wine works perfectly well as a substitute. Dashi may be harder to come across, but chicken stock is a fair substitute for it, though I think the dish takes a slight flavor hit for this switch.

Now add the sliced tonkatsu to the onion sauce mixture. Pour the two beaten eggs over the top and cover the pan for a minute or so, waiting just until the egg has set a bit. You don't want it completely hardened,  so remove from heat just before.

Finally, slide the entire pan's contents onto a deep bowl of rice. The goal is to have the pork/egg mixture on top, and all the juices running down into the rice. 

Enjoy!

MOAR Japanator Original:

Final Impressions: OZMA

Go West! Week Fifteen: Tales of eternal punishment

Japanator AM Episode 58: Listener Questions!

Cooking Otaku: Mabo Tofu

Annotated Anime: Spring 2012 Week 8

Facebook Shares

Around the web