Tonkatsu
From Rasamalaysia.comMakes 2 servings
Ingredients:
2 boneless pork chops
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour
1 egg
1/2 Tbsp. oil
Fresh panko*
Oil for deep frying
Tonkatsu Sauce* For Tonkatsu, I highly recommend you use fresh panko (we call it Nama Panko, and it’s not dried panko). If you can’t buy fresh panko at a Japanese store, spray regular panko with water and leave for 15 minutes. When you select panko, look for packages with bigger flake as they are suitable for Tonkatsu. Here’s regular panko you can find at Japanese or Asian market.
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour
1 egg
1/2 Tbsp. oil
Fresh panko*
Oil for deep frying
Tonkatsu Sauce* For Tonkatsu, I highly recommend you use fresh panko (we call it Nama Panko, and it’s not dried panko). If you can’t buy fresh panko at a Japanese store, spray regular panko with water and leave for 15 minutes. When you select panko, look for packages with bigger flake as they are suitable for Tonkatsu. Here’s regular panko you can find at Japanese or Asian market.
Method:
Get rid of the extra fat and make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat. The reason why you do this is that red meat and fat have different elasticity, and when they are cooked they will shrink and expand at different rates. This will allow Tonkatus to stay nice and flat when deep frying and prevent Tonkatsu from curling up.
Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or if you don’t have one then just use the back of knife to pound. When using knife, crisscross by first pounding top to bottom then left to right.
Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands.
Dust with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl or plate, add ½ Tbsp. of oil for each egg you use and whisk them up. By adding oil, the meat and breaded coating won’t detach from each other while deep frying.
Dredge in flour and remove excess flour.
Dip in egg mixture.
Dredge in panko. After removing excess panko, press gently. While deep frying panko will “pop up” so at this moment they don’t have to be fluffy.
Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat and wait till oil gets 350F (180C). If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tinny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 350F (180C) as well. When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower Tonkatsu into the oil. Keep watching the oil’s temperature and make sure it doesn’t go over 350F (180C) or else it’ll look burnt.
Deep fry for 1 minute on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. If your pork chop is thinner than ¾ inch, then reduce to 45 seconds for each side.
Now take the Tonkatsu out and get rid of the oil by holding Tonkatsu vertically for a few seconds. Place on top of wire rack (if wire rack is not available, substitute with paper towel) and let it sit for 4 minutes. The hot oil on exterior is slowly cooking the meat as it sits. Please do not cut to check whether the inside is cooked or not. We need to keep it closed to retain the heat. While waiting, you can scoop up fried crumbs in the oil with mesh strainer.
After resting for 4 minutes, bring the oil back to 350F (180C) of oil again and deep fry Tonkatsu for 1 minute.
Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the Tonkatsu vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of rack/paper towel for 2 minutes. If you have to use paper towel, try to keep Tonkatsu in a vertical position so it does not get soggy on one side.
Cut Tonkatsu into 3 large pieces (see below) by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breading will not come off. Then cut again in between. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.
