Sauce Katsu Don
What is “sauce katsu don”?
“Sauce katsu don” is a rice bowl that pork cutlet is coated or sprinkled with tonkatsu sauce (spicy and slightly sweet sauce). And usually, fresh shredded cabbage is under the pork cutlet. The sauce goes well with tonkatsu (pork cutlet), cabbage and cooked rice.
In Japan, katsu don (rice bowl with deep-fried pork cutlet) is one of the popular foods. The most common style of katsu don is a rice bowl topped with pork cutlet and slices of onion or green onion simmered in a sweet soy sauce-based broth and added beaten egg. However, at my home, the sauce katsu don is much more popular than common one, so I often make this recipe. Probably because the fresh shredded cabbage and the pork cutlet coated with spicy sauce complement each other and taste very delicious.
As you may know, pork is a good source of many vitamins and minerals. If you like, read about nutrition and health benefits from the link below.
Recipe tips
I use pork tenderloin for this recipe. It’s soft and tastes good, and deep-frying time is short since I cut it into round slices. Besides pork tenderloin, you can use other pork parts or chicken breast in the same way.
Regarding the coating sauce, I mix tonkatsu sauce and ketchup. You can buy tonkatsu sauce at Asian supermarkets. “Tonkatsu sauce” has a rich and fruity taste. The ratio I use is roughly tonkatsu sauce: ketchup = 1: 1. But you can change it. Give it a try and find the ratio you like. If you don’t have tonkatsu sauce, you can replace it with Worcestershire sauce and a little amount of sugar. As the thick sauce doesn’t easily soak into pork cutlet and crispiness lasts for a long time, the coating sauce is better when thick.
Let’s make Japanese dinner
If you make sauce katsu don, why not make a Japanese side dish and miso soup to make a complete Japanese dinner? If you don’t have time to make a side dish, you can just make miso soup with lots of vegetables.
I’ll put some links below for how to cook rice, miso soup and side dishes.
Sauce katsu don
Equipment
- a frying pan
Ingredients
- 300~350 gram Pork tenderloin
- Appropriate amount of Salt & pepper
- 3 ~5 tablespoon All purpose flour
- 1 ~2 Eggs (beaten)
- 1½ ~2 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 3/4 cup Tonkatsu Sauce
- 3/4 cup Ketchup
- 100 ~ 120 gram Cabbage (thinly shredded)
- 550 ~ 660 gram Cooked / steamed rice (180 ~ 220g per person)
- 3 teaspoon Mustard (optional)
Instructions
- Mix tonkatsu sauce and ketchup in a container or bowl. (Please see above recipe tips)
- Prepare shredded cabbage with a kitchen knife or slicer.
- Cut the pork tenderloin into slices about 1 ~ 1.5 cm thick. (It is OK if there are about 4 slices per person.)
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over pork slices. Coat the pork slices with all purpose flour.
- Dip them in the beaten egg.
- Then coat them with panko.
- Heat oil to 170 C = 338 F degrees in a (deep) frying pan. If you don’t have thermometer, you can test by using breadcrumbs. When breadcrumbs are added, they make a sizzling noise and sink to the middle and rise immediately when oil is 170 – 180 C degrees. Deep-fry for about 4 minutes depending on the size of the slice. It's best to start with one side for 1-2 minutes, then flip over and deep-fry for another 2-3 minutes. After frying, drain the oil well. If you add all the meat at once, the temperature will drop, so deep-fry them in 2 to 3 times.
- Place the cooked /steamed rice in a rice bowl. Put shredded cabbage over the rice.
- Dip and coat pork cutlet with the sauce. Arrange the pork cutlet on the cabbage. If you like, add a little mustard on top of the pork.
Notes
I hope you will try it. Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!
