Katsu-don
One of the most popular modern Japanese dishes, and one of my favorite things to order for a delicious, filling lunch. Properly cooked, nothing matches that beautiful tender, juicy pork chop covered in a crispy exterior. In theory, this is a bit of a strange recipe because you're essentially taking something that's deep fried and should be crispy and steaming it in liquid. But nevertheless, it works out pretty well. Certainly a bit more involved than some other recipes, but definitely worth a try. You'll probably want to make this in large batches to avoid wasting oil, so could be good for large groups or meal prep.
Active Time: 40 min
Total Time: 1 hr 30 min
Ingredients
> pork chops (boneless)
> eggs
> onion, green onion
> flour, egg, panko breadcrumbs
> salt, brown sugar
> soy sauce, mirin, sake
Instructions
1. An hour or two before cooking, salt the pork chops. This will draw out the moisture and essentially dry-brine the pork chops.
2. Create a sauce, kind of like a teriyaki sauce, by mixing together soy sauce, mirin, sake, and brown sugar. Optionally, add a bit of crushed garlic and sliced ginger and sit to marinade. When ready to serve, heat the mixture in a pan and lightly reduce.
3. Heat oil in a pan, enough to shallow-fry the pork chops. I don't really know the exact temperature, but you'd want to use something like a medium heat; relatively low temperature oil.
4. Dry the pork chops thoroughly with a paper towel, and flatten them into approximately 1cm thick chops.
5. Prepare your flour, egg, and panko in three separate plates/bowls. Do the classic deep fry technique - coat in flour, dust off excess, coat in egg wash, cover in breadcrumbs.
6. Place the pork chop into the oil and cook for around 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness and oil temperature, or until golden brown. Remove and set on a paper towel. Once ready to use, slice into thin slices.
7. In the meantime, thinly slice and saute some onion. Once softened and lightly caramelized, place the pork chop back into the pan, add the teriyaki sauce, then pour the remaining egg (ideally around 1.5-2 eggs worth) liberally all over the pan (some over the pork chop also).
8. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for a few minutes until the egg is cooked through.
9. Carefully slide everything over a bowl of rice, and top with green onions. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Keeping the oil temperature somewhat low is important for this recipe, particularly if your pork chops are fairly thick. If your oil is too hot, the breadcrumbs could burn before the pork itself is fully cooked through.
> The most important thing is to ensure that the pork is not overcooked inside. It's a bit of an inexact science that could probably be made more exact with more precise measurements. If you have a batch of several pork chops, use the first one as a test run to get an idea of how long it should take.
> When slicing and placing the pork chop back into the pan, try to keep them as close as possible - it'll look a lot nicer!
> The exact sauce mixture is up to you, but some combination of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar is ideal. I'd say around equal parts soy sauce, mirin, and sake is good, but feel free to update it based on your preferences.
> I like to move the onions off to the side before placing the pork chop in, so that the overall thickness of the dish is a bit more uniform.