Our daughter doesn’t like a chunk of meat in general. She says it’s too chewy and dry, and prefers soft minced meat such as hamburger steak. It had always been like that since she was a toddler, until one day, she ate Tonkatsu (Ton (Pork) + Katsu (Cutlet) = Deep-fried Japanese pork cutlet). About a year ago I took her to one of the most popular Tonkatsu restaurants in Japan (the famous Maisen) where she ate a slice of this freshly fried, juicy, tender, tasty pork Tonkatsu with their rich, sweet & savory shiny brown sauce. It must have been an eye opener for her, because ever since then she became a big Tonkatsu fan.

Last night I made it for dinner, and she kept taking a slice after another, to the point where I had to tell her to stop eating any more. She indulgently poured the Tonkatsu sauce (store bought – they have a good selection in the supermarket) over the Tonkatsu slices and ate it with great pleasure.

I don’t know if she knows it yet; I certainly won’t encourage her to make a connection that the pork is pig, who she adores through her favorite Olivia and Peppa Pig.

Tonkatsu Recipe

Ingredients

– Pork filet (preferably with a bit of fat)

– Flour

– Egg (beaten)

– Bread crumbs (in Japan we use what is called “Pan-Ko (パン粉)“, which is rough bread crumbs rather than the fine powdery ones you see in the western countries)

– Oil (I mixed salad oil and olive oil yesterday – I do NOT recommend sesame oil for Tonkatsu. It’d be too heavy)

Direction

1. Make some incisions between fat & flesh – this way it prevents the filet to warp once being placed in hot oil
2. Sift a large spoonful of flour over the pork filet and cover it entirely
3. Dip the floured pork filet into the beaten egg
4. In a tray, pour a cup of bread crumbs, place the egged pork fillet on top and cover the crumbs over the fillet
5. Pour the oil in a small frying pan, heat up the oil (drop a small bread crumb in it for testing – it’s ready when it immediately comes back up on the surface)
6. Deep-fry it in medium heat until the flesh becomes harder (kind of like someone’s bicep muscles, rather than my soft tricep)
7. Once ready, take it out of the pan and place it on top of a sheet of kitchen paper placed on a metal net (so that it wouldn’t get soggy from the heat)
8. Eat with the delicious Tonkatsu sauce