Tonkatsu - Deep Fried Pork fillets

Deep fried pork is one of the most popular dishes in Japan, it is enjoyed simply on a bed of shredded cabbage with a bowl of rice and is accompanied with hot mustard that is derived from the English version and Tonkatsu sauce. Like tempura Tonkatsu is of European origins being based on the 'schnitzel' but is not shallow fried like its origin, but deep fried of course when preparing this dish you prefer to shallow fry you may but the texture will be slightly different.

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Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Pork

  • 6 Pork escalopes, around .5mm thick and weighing 130-150g each
  • 120g plain flour
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 200g dried breadcrumbs
  • oil for deep frying

To Serve

  • shredded cabbage
  • boiled rice
  • Hot English Mustard or Japanese Mustard (prepackaged hot English mustard)
  • Tonkatsu sauce or a mixture of 50/50 Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce

Method

  1. Pork Escalopes: Using a mallet or meat tenderiser flatten out the pork fillets evenly. Season the flour with salt and pepper in a bowl. Place the beaten eggs and breadcrumbs on seperate plates or bowls. Coat the pork escalopes in the flour then eggs and finely the breadcrumbs shaking of any excess crumbs. Set aside until ready to cook.
  2. To Cook: Heat some oil in a deep fryer or wok to 180-190°C. Cook the 1 or 2 fillets at a time in the hot oil for around 5 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove them from the heat and drain them on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the remaining fillets.
  3. To Serve: Place a bed of cabbage on each plate. Slice the pork fillets into 6-8 slices and place them on the cabbage. Accompany each serving of pork with a bowl of rice, mustard and Tonkatsu sauce or a mixture of Worcestershire and tomato sauce. Serve.