Tonkatsu (deep fried pork) Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (2024)

24In Main Dish/ Pork/ Video

Tonkatsu (トンカツ) is one of the most beloved “western style” Japanese food in Japan. It is a pork chop breaded with flour, egg, and Panko (bread crumbs), then deep fried. It’s not the healthiest Japanese food, but it is rather a comfort food which everybody can’t get enough of.

There are a lot of Tonkatsu restaurants in Japan, from small local shops to national chain restaurants. Depending on where you live in the US, it might be a little hard to find Tonkatsu restaurants here since it’s such a specialized store. Good news is, though, making Tonkatsu at home is not hard at all. If you are willing to deal with a large amount of hot oil and to clean up the mess afterward, you’ll be rewarded with a crispy delicious treat. Most of the ingredients in the recipe are easily found at US supermarkets, so they can be picked up next time you go grocery shopping without much trouble.

The Panko (bread crumbs) we used here is Japanese, and most US supermarkets carry it today. It is medium-size bread crumbs and that is perfect for Tonkatsu. Italian bread crumbs are too fine and that doesn’t give the crunch we want. On the other hand, coarser, bigger pieces of bread crumbs like fresh bread crumbs could absorb a bit too much oil and might make Tonkatsu greasy. In any case, Tonkatsu being a bit oily is ok (it is after all a fried food) because itis almost always accompanied by thinly shredded cabbage which is supposed to cut the greasiness of this fried dish. You’ll see how it complements Tonkatsu when you actually eat them together! It is quite refreshing.

Tonkatsu Sauce is an important flavoring for the dish. Although the pork is seasoned well with salt and pepper and good by itself, the sweet and tangy Tonkatsu sauce completes this dish. The sauce is similar in taste to Worcestershire sauce but much thicker and heavier. It is available at Japanese markets or online stores, but if you can’t find it at all, you can make it by mixing 1 part Worcestershire sauce and 2 parts ketchup (at least something similar). Tonkatsu Sauce is pretty much the best condiment for Tonkatsu, but there are other sauces you may want to try. A mixture of freshly ground sesame seeds and Tonkatsu Sauce is a nutty and rich tasting sauce. Another sauce is a more Japanese-style sauce of grated Daikon radish and Ponzu Sauce. This sauce gives the dish a little lighter feel because of the spiciness of fresh Daikon and the sourness of citrus. If you like to experiment with different flavors on Tonkatsu, make a couple of different sauces.

There are a lot of variations of dishes you can make with Tonkatsu, too, such as Katsudon (Tonkatsu and eggs cooked in seasoned dashi over rice, yummy!), Katsu Sandwich (sandwich with Tonkatsu as filling, it’s the best!), and Kastu Curry (curry and rice topped with Tonkatsu, so good!). Now you have many reasons to make Tonkatsu at home. So let’s start with this recipe!

This video and article is newly updated from December 2012.