30-Minute Easy Tonkatsu: Japanese Pork Cutlet Recipe

To make tonkatsu sauce

1. Roughly grind toasted sesame seeds in a Japanese mortar and pestle, leaving some unground.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine all tonkatsu sauce ingredients, adding a desired amount of ground sesame seeds. Mix well and set aside. You can also add more sesame seeds just before serving.

For the breading of pork cutlet

1. Place the pork on a working surface. Use a pair of scissors to make several slits on the connective tissue (white area) between the meat and fat. This will help prevent the pork from curling up during deep-frying.
2. Cover the pork with a piece of plastic wrap and pound both sides with a meat hammer (or rolling pin) until it becomes thinner and stretched out.
3. Prepare the breading by setting up three shallow bowls for flour, beaten egg, and panko breadcrumbs. Spray the panko breadcrumbs with water a few times to moisten them, but don't oversaturate.
4. Lightly coat the pork slices with flour, shaking off any excess. Then dip them into the beaten egg. Cover the pork with panko by pressing the breadcrumbs down gently on the meat. Remove any excess panko. Set the breaded pork aside for 5-10 minutes before deep-frying.

For the first deep-frying

1. Heat a batch of oil in your pot or pan to reach to 330ºF (170ºC) over medium heat. You can also test by dropping one piece of panko into the oil: if it sinks down but immediately comes right up and bubbly, then the oil is ready.
2. Deep fry one slice of pork at a time so that you don’t drastically lower the oil temperature. Gently put one pork cutlet into the oil and cook - without flipping it - for 1-2 minutes. Then, turn the pork to the other side and deep-fry another 1-2 minute (again without flipping it). The coating should be lightly golden.
3. Using tongs, take the pork out and remove excess oil by holding the cutlet vertically and slightly shaking it off. Place on a wire rack or paper towel and let it sit until the rest of the batch is deep-fried. Note: Use a fine-mesh strainer or skimmer to remove any floating fried crumbs from the oil in between batches. This helps keep the oil clean and prevent burnt crumbs from darkening the oil. Lower the heat while cleaning the oil, then return it to medium and bring it back up to 330ºF (160ºC) before adding the next batch of pork.

For the second deep-frying

1. Prepare for the second deep-frying. Raise the oil temperature to 350˚F (175˚C). Fry the pork again for 1-2 minutes on both sides until deep golden brown. If the coating darkens too quickly, reduce the heat slightly.

To serve

1. Slice tonkatsu into wide strips. Serve immediately with homemade tonkatsu sauce, crisped shredded green cabbage, and rice. Drizzle tonkatsu sauce directly over the cutlet, or dip the cutlet pieces into the sauce. You can also drizzle the sauce over the cabbage and serve together.