Tonkatsu Sando
Greg Dunmore
Servings
4
One of my favorite sandwiches from Japan hands down. Chris loves his Egg Salad sandos, but the tonkatsu is my jam. The soft milk bread and crispy fried pork cutlet with cabbage and karashi mustard just hits on all cylinders for me. In Japan you’ll find these sandwiches at almost every konbini (Japanese convenience stores), plus many tonkatsu restaurants have sandos to go.
Ingredients
-
4 tablespoons Japanese-style Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Yamasei Organic Karashi Mustard Powder, already hydrated
- 1 pound boneless, skinless pork loin, cut into 4 slices of even thickness
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Hanamaruki Liquid Shio Koji, or a pinch of salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 cup flour
- 3 to 4 cups panko
- Neutral oil, for frying
- 8 slices of milk bread (available at many Asian bakeries or markets)
-
½ cup Katsu Sauce
- 1 cup white cabbage, very thinly sliced
Directions
- In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and hydrated karashi, set aside.
Use a meat mallet to gently pound each of the 4 pork fillets. Be careful not to pound too hard; you just want to tenderize and gently make the pork thinner. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs with the liquid shio koji and milk in a large bowl. Spread the flour on one large plate and the panko on another. Dredge one pork cutlet in flour on all sides, shaking off any excess. Next, dunk the pork into the eggs, shake off excess egg. Lastly, dredge in panko, pressing lightly to help the crumbs adhere. Repeat to coat all 4 cutlets. If you have time, refrigerate for 15-20 minutes as this will help the breading to stick better, but not necessary.
Heat 1 inch of oil to 350℉ in a high-sided skillet (or other pan suited to shallow-frying). Carefully lay the pork fillets in the pan. Depending on your skillet size, you may have to cook in batches. Once the tonkatsu starts to brown on the bottom, gently turn it over. You might have to do this a couple of times to achieve an even, golden brown crust.
Once your pork is golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a rack or a plate with paper towels to help remove excess oil. Season with salt immediately so the salt will stick. Let rest one minute then cut in half to make sure it is cooked through.
On a cutting board, cut the crusts off the bread and lightly spread some karashi mayonnaise on one side of each slice of the bread. Then add the cutlet on top of one of the slices, brush with katsu sauce and add ¼ of the cabbage on the top of each cutlet. Finally top with the remaining milk bread slices, cut in half and enjoy!