I’m proud of the constant parade of food coming out of my kitchen but I hold myself to high standards. Obviously I enjoy almost all the things I made but I don’t recall too many instances which a bite would induce the involuntary “mmm” complete with my eyes closed. Last weekend, that magical mmm-worthy moment happened not once, but twice, in the form of two tonkatsu dishes. I still can’t stop thinking about them.
Tonkatsu is Japanese breaded pork cutlets best grouped under the
Deep frying is a rare occurrence at my kitchen. I’m a little afraid of a pot of sputtering boiling oil and that greasy diner smell it lingers behind. I need a lot of convincing. Fresh doughnut makes a strong argument as is fresh tonkatsu. I followed the direction from No Recipes and I cannot be more pleased with the result. Controlling the oil temperature was the biggest challenge but once I got the hang of things, frying at medium high heat for 2 minutes on each side of the pork chop did the trick. This is where I must declare my allegiance to my beloved instant read thermometer.
With the fresh cutlets, I made a simple sandwich using thick cut toast and a swirl of sweet tangy tonkatsu sauce. Tonkatsu sauce is a little like A1 or HP steak sauce except with a fruitier flavour. It is a common condiment for deep fried food in Japan. The choice of bread is of high importance to me because it needs to be a fine crumb sandwich bread that is sturdy enough to stand up to the thick pork chop. I bought my day-old loaf from Bakery Nakamura. I actually prefer day-old bread for this because it toasts better. The second Little Brother and I sunk our teeth into the simple sandwich, we both closed our eyes and savoured the tonkatsu sandwich with that “mmm” sound. When we opened our eyes again, we looked at each other in amazement. We simply could not believe how tasty it was. Thick, tender, juicy pork chop with an ethereal crispy coating….it was everything we look for in a great tonkatsu sandwich.
Obviously we were not crazy enough to finish eight tonkatsu between us in one sitting. In fact, we only ate one apiece. The sandwich was deceptively filling. That left us with six cutlets in the fridge. Having just experienced the bliss of a freshly made tonkatsu sandwich, we were not keen on tarnishing that memory with leftover sandwich the next day. Luck for us, a friend suggested Curry Katsu Don. I slapped my forehead (why yes of course!) and immediately got to work.
Japanese curry is a perennial favourite at my house. Never mind that it comes from a box and the sauce is thickened by these heavily processed curry blocks. It’s mild, it completely lacks heat, but gosh we love it. This is the dish that make us go for second or third helpings of rice. I made a huge pot of curry with chunks of red caribe potatoes, purple Vikings potatoes, carrots, celery roots, and onion. I recrisped the tonkatsu in a toaster oven and served them with short-grain rice. Of course the rice was moulded exactly the way you would see in curry katsu don served in Japan. All that was missing was the kitschy silver gravy boat! This was another mmm-worthy dish. Dinner was enjoyed almost in complete silence because we were just too focused on the food.
When we finished the last spoonful of curry rice, I said to Little Brother: Next time I ask you for special dinner request, you’ll know what to pick!
