All You Need To Know About Japanese Pork Katsu Curry

 

Japanese cuisine is well-known the world over for the exotic dishes it has to offer. Japanese food is simple yet rich in its content with a unique taste that leaves you wanting more. It is the reason Japanese cuisine has become extremely popular. One of the crowd-favourite Japanese dishes is the Pork Katsu curry, which is a breaded cutlet. 

  

What is Japanese Pork Katsu Curry?

 

Japanese Pork Katsu and ‘Tonkatsu’ are two names for a single dish. The Tonkatsu is a cutlet made from meat and served as a curry with a delicious and thick sauce known as Tonkatsu sauce. The pork variant of the dish is particularly famous. However, Katsu is cooked from chicken or even tofu as well. 

 

Japanese Pork Katsu curry involves making a cutlet from pork. Pork loin is chosen to prepare this deep-fried cutlet. Tonkatsu sauce, which is a type of Worcester sauce, is served with it. Shredded cabbage is a part of this dish. Sometimes, rice is served with this dish too. 

 

The Origin of Pork Katsu

 

In the word Tonkatsu, Ton stands for pork, and Katsu means cutlet. This dish was first made in 1899 in a Tokyo restaurant. Earlier known as Pork Katsurestu, it was later called Tonkatsu. It was invented during the time of the Japanese Emperor Meji. Pork was the choice of meat at the time. 

 

The Emperor wanted to imbibe the Western culture, and hence pork replaced beef. Later on, a sauce was added to the dish to enhance its taste. There are different variations of this dish, but the most popular one is the pork cutlet served with Tonkatsu sauce.

 

How is it made?

 

The ingredients you need to make Pork Katsu are:

 

1. 2 loins of pork.
2. Japanese curry in cube form (2 or 3).
3. Plain flour (4 tablespoons).
4. Half a pack of panko breadcrumbs.
5. Egg (1)
6. Onion, Carrot, and Potato (1 each).
7. Oil for frying.
8. Cooked Japanese rice to serve (300 g).
9. Salt and pepper for seasoning.

 

Preparation method: 

 

• Peel and slice the onions, potatoes, and carrots into small chunks.
• Add the vegetable chunks to a pan. Fill the pan with water to the halfway mark. Boil the vegetables until the vegetables become soft.
• While the vegetables are boiling, cook the rice and keep it ready.
• Take the pork loins and remove the fat from them. Season with salt and pepper.
• Coat the pork with flour. Then beat the egg and add it over the pork. Dip this pork in breadcrumbs. Now, fry the pork in oil. Deep fry it until it is cooked well.
• Go back to the cooked vegetables. Add curry to it and stir. Leave it for some time and stir well to create a thick sauce.
• Once the pork is fried, cut it into strips to form the cutlet.
• Plate the rice and place the pork cutlet strips over it.
• Add the curry sauce over it.

 

You can serve the dish in different ways. It is a dish that would be enjoyed by all those who eat it.

 

How popular is this dish?

 

Japanese Pork Katsu curry is one of the more popular Japanese dishes. The fact that this dish has different variants shows how popular it is. The sauce recipe varies from region to region. For instance, in Nagoya, the sauce has a miso-base due to the popularity of miso in the region.

 

There are many variants to this popular dish.

 

• ToriKatsu is made the same way as Pork Katsu. The only difference is that pork replaces the chicken.
• Katsu Sando is a type of pork katsu but is used as a filling in a sandwich. It is served to students and workers who are in a hurry to eat.
• Katsudon is a variant that serves rice with eggs.
• Menchi Katsu uses minced meat instead of pork and is deep-fried with bread.
• There is also a fish katsu version of this dish, which goes to show its popularity.

 

In some places, they serve a sauce called Karashi (made from yellow mustard) with this dish. You can also serve Miso soup and pickled vegetables (tsukemono) with this dish. When you serve rice, shredded cabbage, miso soup, and pickles with this dish, it is called Teishoku. It is considered a set meal.

 

Another related dish that is popular is Katsu don. You have to cook the vegetables in stock. The sauce is made from sweet soy. Next, beat the egg into it. Finally, pour this mixture over the rice, garnish with herbs and serve. 

 

Is Japanese Pork Katsu curry healthy?

 

Japanese food, in general, is healthy. Usually, it does not use too much fat. But, not all dishes are low in calories. Take Katsu for example. To prepare Katsu curry, deep fry pork loin strips dipped in egg and breadcrumbs. The deep-frying adds a lot of calories to the dish. Make the sauce from vegetables and serve with rice and pickles on the side. 

 

Katsu is a tasty dish but has plenty of calories. You can make small changes to make your meals healthier. For example, instead of using the pork loin to make this dish, use the fillet. This makes it healthier since the fillet has less fat.

 

Where can you find Japanese Pork Katsu in Edmonton?

 

If you liked the recipe for pork katsu, then you will probably want to taste it. You can even eat this dish at a restaurant or order it home, if you don’t want to cook it at home. In Edmonton, you can visit Rice Bowl Deluxe. There are a variety of rice bowl dishes on offer here. You can taste authentic Japanese Pork Katsu curry. We guarantee that you will be back again for it after you eat it once.