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Poppin' Pork: I Learned to Make Tonkatsu During the Lockdown

Anime has taught me many things, but none so delicious as this.

By Rachael DunnPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Poppin' Pork: I Learned to Make Tonkatsu During the Lockdown
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

The COVID lockdown wasn’t so terrible. At least, not for me. Not at first. Sure, the pandemic was terrible, but I would be okay. After all, I was an introvert. I was wired for this sort of thing. I would only leave the house for essential reasons like picking up groceries or prescriptions. I would have time without interruptions to actually do my job and write. And when I was done writing,I had plenty of video games to tide me over until this whole thing ended as quickly as it came.

Isolation? More like NICE-olation. A lockdown would be easy for me!

Months and months passed and the smug delight withered into deep despair. Would I ever be able to travel again? Would I ever get to see my grandma again? Would I have to wear my mask forever? Would I ever be able to go to a movie theater again?

Dear God, would there ever be another Renaissance Faire?

That was the extent of my extremely self-centered sadness. Between writing, playing Stardew Valley, and watching anime, I didn’t do much. There wasn’t much I could do.

But then I saw a quirky anime series called Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou. In it, a young man who helps his father at the family tonkatsu restaurant dreams of becoming a famous DJ. He stood out from the other musicians by incorporating the sounds of his family’s restaurant into his mixes. Oil popping, meat frying, cabbage chopping...the sounds of his home provided freshness to his music. The story was silly and fun, but what really grabbed my interest was the food. Even though it was just an animated feature, the food looked so good!

Tonkatsu can be broken down into its two word parts. Ton, which means ‘pork’ and katsu which is simply the way the Japanese say ‘cut’. So the dish is just a breaded, deep fried pork cutlet. That’s it. It’s really nothing special. Sometimes it’s put between two slices of bread to make a sandwich. Sometimes it’s used in a curry. Or piled on top of rice and topped with an egg to make katsudon. Or you could use chicken instead of pork to make chikin katsu. Tonkatsu inspired so many different foods!

By Tayawee Supan on Unsplash

It sounded too delicious not to make! After looking up recipes from Japanese cookbook websites, I realized I didn’t have too many ingredients to purchase. The recipe called for pork loin or pork fillet, but I ended upI using boneless, center-cut pork chops since they were on sale at my local grocery store.

And once I got home, I prepared to make tonkatsu for the first time ever. The end result was juicy, tender, and delicious. Here’s the recipe if you want to try it for yourself.

  1. Salt and pepper the cuts.
  2. Dredge them in flour. Cornstarch can be used too for a lighter, crispier fry.
  3. Dip the pork pieces in egg.
  4. Now dredge them through panko bread crumbs.
  5. Place them in the pan full of hot oil and fry them, flipping over once to get both sides and get them golden brown. This could take 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how thick the cut is. It helps to use a meat thermometer.
  6. Shake off excess oil and let the cuts dry.

But Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou taught me that tonkatsu isn’t any good without the special tonkatsu sauce. You can buy the sauce at the grocery store, but I opted to make my own.

  1. Pour a 1/2 cup of soy sauce in a small sauce pan.
  2. Squeeze ¼ cup of ketchup in the pan.
  3. Put a ¼ cup of mustard in the pan. You can use dijon, but yellow works just fine.
  4. Pour a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce into the pan.
  5. Use a teaspoon of allspice.
  6. Heat until combined and pour into small bowls for dipping or pouring.

I cooked some rice with my first attempt. I didn’t have cabbage, but I had some miso soup and it paired excellently. If you’re interested in preparing Japanese cuisine and want to try something other than sushi, give tonkatsu a try!

cuisine
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About the Creator

Rachael Dunn

I'm the author of the Dusk Eternal trilogy, an Egyptian-inspired fantasy adventure. I'm also a freelance blogger and content writer. I love reading ancient history and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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