TONKATSU

In a perfect world where I am forever a size 4 and the food we eat has absolutely no impact on our health, I will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tall glass of cold milk before bedtime every night. I will also serve breaded and fried cutlets more than two or three times a year.

Browsing over at Foodbuzz last week I happened upon Las Vegas Food Adventures and a post on tonkatsu. Reading it produced one of those ah ha moments that you accompany with a slap to the side of the head. While I love veal and chicken cutlets, I hold a special place in my culinary heart for pork cutlets, a rarity in my local supermarkets. The ah ha moment came when I read the recipe and saw that Kathy had simply cut a pork loin into one inch slices and pounded them out. The sheer genius of it all! Since I'd finally managed to track down some whole wheat panko bread crumbs, I decided to add tonkatsu to this week's rotation.

Tonkatsu

1 lb boneless pork loin, cut into 1 inch slices and pounded out to 1/2 inch thickness
1 cup flour (you'll use just a little more than 1/4 cup)
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups Japanese panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
oil for frying (peanut, canola or vegetable)

Gently pound the pork between two slices of plastic wrap to a thickness of ½ inch. Season with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with flour and shake off excess. Dip in the beaten egg and then coat well in the panko crumbs.

Preheat the oil in a large sauté pan pan over medium heat to 350 degrees. When the oil is hot, fry the cutlets without crowding them until golden brown on each side. Drain on a wire rack to maintain the crispness on the bottom. Serve with the tonkatsu sauce.

Tonkatsu Sauce
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup sake (I used sherry)
¼ cup dark soy sauce
½ tsp sugar

Stir all of the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved, Serve on the side in dipping bowls or drizzled over top of the cutlets.

TASTE NOTES

I was sure that I was not going to like the whole wheat panko bread crumbs, but I was wrong. If anything, they seemed to crisp even better than the regular kind. I was very happy with my "homemade" pork cutlets. I was able to cut off all visible fat, as little as it is, and I got 8 good-sized cutlets from my one pound boneless pork loin. Half the cutlets remain; they will make very good sandwiches, I'm sure. While I didn't serve the tonkatsu over shredded cabbage, I did make and use the accompanying sauce. DSO and I both loved the flavor. The worcesteshire sauce gave it just enough kick. With some sauteed escarole on the side for me and some leftover spaghetti for DSO, this was a very tasty meal. I know I'll be making more pork cutlets in the future to use in other dishes. Thanks, Kathy, for a great idea.