Tonkatsu is a simple deep fried pork loin, breaded with flour, egg and bread crumbs. A very simple dish yet so awfully delicious. Definitely one of my most favorite and must eat dish of all time. The making and basic recipe itself is very simple.

Normally Japanese people eat Katsu dish with all kind sauce or Japanese mustard, since the seasoning is only salt and pepper. As for me, I prefer either to enjoy it just like that or use Goma Tare(sesame seed based sauce). Since I'm not really familiar in making sauce, I just normally use Kewpie sesame dressing or ready to go Japanese mustard Lol.

Katsu is a very versatile dish. You can change the main protein to fish, chicken or beef and also can be used as a complimentary dish for a bento, made as sandwich fillings, toppings for kare dish or even elevated onto Katsudon(a dish where you soak the katsu over onion and sauce similar to Chicken Katsudon, and covered it with half beaten egg) which is very delicious!

In this recipe, I would recommend using pork loin, but if you prefer making it just a little bit healthier and you don't like the fat part, you can use tenderloin part instead. Normally we would use loin which is around 1cm in thickness or around 100 grams(most common 80-120 grams). Please take note that the thickness of the meat would affect the cooking time and since you want it cooked through perfectly, the thicker it is might need you to finish it in the oven.

Katsu dish won't be complete without serving it with cold and crunchy shreded cabbage, but since it's more to the matter of preference I would exclude it from the cooking steps. But you can make it by shredding cabbage or cut it manualy by around 1-2mm thick using Sen-giri technique and put it in cold ice bath water. Take out before serving and shake several times to remove excess water before plating it and add the dressing of your choice. I like cherry tomato so will be adding it as a garnish~

Tips: if you don't like the smell of pork meat, you can soak it in sake for around 5-10 minutes. You can also add some lemon juice. But make sure to pat it with kitchen paper before processing it, this actually also helps tenderize the meat quite well.