tonkatsu

torakris · February 22, 2004

Yesterday my husband and I left the kids at a friend's house and went to go see The Last Samurai, after we popped into a tonkatsu restaurant for a late lunch. It had probably been years since since I had been in a tonkatsu restaurant, sure I eat tonkatsu but it is usually at a family restaurant type place where it is one of a hundred things on the menu. At a tonkatsu restaurant, tonkatsu is all they do and the difference is really amazing! The place all had free refills of tea, miso soup, rice and shredded cabbage, no wonder I ate too much!

Any other tonkatsu fans?

Jason Perlow · February 23, 2004

I love Tonkatsu. But I like Kushiage even more.

BTW, what's the Japanese take on "The Last Samurai" ?

prasantrin · February 23, 2004

I love tonkatsu, but I actually prefer chicken katsu. Did you go to the place where you grind your own sesame for the dipping sauce? And they have barley in their rice? I loved that place, and it's on my list of restaurants for when I return. zuru zuru!

torakris · February 23, 2004

I love Tonkatsu. But I like Kushiage even more.
BTW, what's the Japanese take on "The Last Samurai" ?

All of the Japanese that I have heard from about it love it! I think it also helps that a lot of Japanese big names are in it and my Mother in law told me she thought Watanabe Ken was sooo much better than Tom Cruise..... :biggrin:

torakris · February 23, 2004

I love tonkatsu, but I actually prefer chicken katsu. Did you go to the place where you grind your own sesame for the dipping sauce? And they have barley in their rice? I loved that place, and it's on my list of restaurants for when I return. zuru zuru!

No I didn't grind my own sesame and there was no barley in the rice, the place was great otherwise. :biggrin:

Oh and Jason I love kushiage too, there is kushiage resturant just minutes from my home that is tabehoudai (all you can eat)! I have never been yet as having hot oil on your table does mnot sound like the best place to take 3 young children, oh you cook it by yourself at your table too.

wesza · February 23, 2004

Yesterday my husband and I left the kids at a friend's house and went to go see The Last Samurai, after we popped into a tonkatsu restaurant for a late lunch. It had probably been years since since I had been in a tonkatsu restaurant, sure I eat tonkatsu but it is usually at a family restaurant type place where it is one of a hundred things on the menu. At a tonkatsu restaurant, tonkatsu is all they do and the difference is really amazing! The place all had free refills of tea, miso soup, rice and shredded cabbage, no wonder I ate too much!
Any other tonkatsu fans?

torakris:

I've been infatuated with "Tonkatsu" ever since I enjoyed it in NYC's first Japanese Restaurant on I think 27th Street in 1954 as a guest of the Chef who stayed at the Hotel I managed.

In Taiwan at the Japanese owned "Taiwan Ham Company" I was awed by the quality and how the Boneless Pork Loins were completely defatted and sent fresh to Japans largest Chain of "Tonkatsu Restaurants".

I learned to enjoy variations of cutlets made with Pork thru the years and have come to prefer the taste and flavor when substituting Pork in place of Veal even for Pork Parmigiana or most Schnitzel type of preparations but it still tastes better in the Japanse Restaurants in Japan.

Irwin :biggrin:

February 23, 2004

The tonkatsu at Maisen in Omotesando is great especially for the price. Whats really cool is that the restaurant use to be a public sento.

sandra · February 23, 2004

Love tonkatsu, and have had it 2 different ways - both breaded and over rice, but one had only the sauce, the other one had sauce AND a lovely egg on top, this at Japan Centre in London... is one more original than the other?

One is maybe called katsu-don?

tommy · February 23, 2004

what kind of sauce is supposed to be served with this stuff? the sauce i get is usually a sweet-ish A1 type of thing.

Jason Perlow · February 23, 2004

what kind of sauce is supposed to be served with this stuff? the sauce i get is usually a sweet-ish A1 type of thing.

Yep, its quite ketchupy. In fact, we made Tonkatsu sauce with ketchup as the base recently.

Lea and Perrins steak sauce is quite close to Tonkatsu sauce, actually.

Here is the recipe for Tonkatsu sauce that we used recently:

1 Cup of Ketchup

2 Tablespoons Mirin

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2tbsp sugar

1 teaspoon minced gingerroot

Combine all in a small bowl, let stand for 30 minutes for flavors to mix.

Akiko · February 23, 2004

Love tonkatsu, and have had it 2 different ways - both breaded and over rice, but one had only the sauce, the other one had sauce AND a lovely egg on top, this at Japan Centre in London... is one more original than the other?
One is maybe called katsu-don?

Sandra, you are right, the sauce and egg one is Katsudon. At Japan Centre they also do my husband's favorite - Katsu Kare, which is tonkatsu with Japanese curry poured over. They do a very good job at japan centre. My mouth is watering...

Stone · February 23, 2004

I've never ordered tonkatsu because it looks like it's just breaded pork cutlet. Am I missing something?

tissue · February 23, 2004

I love katsu curry.

bbq4meanytime · February 23, 2004

I've never ordered tonkatsu because it looks like it's just breaded pork cutlet. Am I missing something?

yes. that is the point. just try it next time :unsure:

I was lucky growing up, my first girlfriend's mother is japanese and she cooked all kinds of food. I wish I could chat with her now (the mother, not the girl friend :smile: ).

Torakris, I had the same question: what is tonkatsu sauce supposed to be (although I think Jason's recipe has shed some light on this)?

tommy · February 23, 2004

I've never ordered tonkatsu because it looks like it's just breaded pork cutlet. Am I missing something?

yeah, but it's really *good* breaded pork cutlet.

torakris · February 23, 2004

Bulldog the biggest name in tonkatsu sauce in Japan lists the following as ingredients:

Ingredients: water, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, apple, salt tomato, hydrolyzed soy protien, cornstarch, prune, carrot, spices, caramel coloring, onion, garlic and ginger.

For a homemade version, Jason's sounds great! :biggrin:

and for those interested in okonomiyaki, here is the okonomiyaki thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry252843

katsu curry rules!!

skchai · February 24, 2004

In Seoul nowadays, there's a semi-fad in "roll katsu". It's basically a thin cutlet topped with something else (usually cheese), rolled, crumbed, and fried.

helenjp · March 2, 2004

Sounds a bit like kushi-katsu (skewered katsu, literally, but oh, so much more...). I think I'd abandon my family and move back to Osaka alone if I could have kushi-katsu once a week!

The crunchy breadcrumbs, the fact that everything is hidden until you bite it...the shishitou, the pork, the shiso...I wish I could even remember the rest!

**Dave the Cook** · March 2, 2004

Lately I've been using a Jinmyo "procedure" for tonkatsu sauce:

. . . caramelize diced apples and onions with a bit of ginger. Add half as much tamarind and twice as much mirin. Puree. Strain. To this add equal amount of shoyu. Season with white pepper, sometimes with a bit of chile.

I use ancho for the chile, with a pinch of cayenne. This is great stuff.

wesza · March 2, 2004

Is there any more comforting and satisfying one bowl Luncheon dish then traditional "Katsu Donburi"?

If there is I haven't come across it yet. Not for price, taste or just darn goodness.

Irwin :rolleyes:

yellow truffle · March 4, 2004

I just had tonkatsu from a non-tonkatsu restaurant here in Chicago. Similar to those places in Japan, the specialty tonkatsu establishments make their tonkatsu really well. And the sauce. :smile: Is their a formal name for the "sauce." What do they call it Japan/Japanese.

What is the history of tonkatsu. Where did it originate from? It is a very western dish, until you add rice, shredded cabbage, mustard and the sauce.

A little story... After first trying tonkatsu with my Japanese friends I was impressed. Wow, I know something else to order in a Japanese restaurant. So I went to another (reputable) Japanese restaurant and got the katsudon. When I received the dish, I wondered why I did not any "sauce." I then asked the waiter to bring the sauce. Well, you know what they were saying. I was so embarrassed. I did a major faux pas. :blink:

torakris, I love your daily Nihongo.

Have you done katsu as the word of the day?

ton katsu (ton>pork, katsu>cutlette) (cant you say buta-niku katsu)

katsu don (katsu>cutlette, don>in a bowl of rice) (so how does one know it is pork)

katsu curry (katsu>cutlette, curry>the spicy stuff) (so again, how does one know it is pork)

kushi katsu (what is this)

kami katsu (what is this)

sasami katsu (what is this)

menchi katsu (what is this)

katsu donburi (what is this)

Ohh, fun with katsu. :biggrin:

oh and I forgot to welcome 718 to egullet and the Japan forum...
Welcome!

Hey, torakris, can I get one of those, too. :biggrin:

torakris · March 4, 2004

I just had tonkatsu from a non-tonkatsu restaurant here in Chicago. Similar to those places in Japan, the specialty tonkatsu establishments make their tonkatsu really well. And the sauce. Is their a formal name for the "sauce." What do they call it Japan/Japanese.

the sauce is called tonkatsu sauce :shock: :biggrin:

torakris · March 4, 2004

torakris, I love your daily Nihongo.
Have you done katsu as the word of the day?
ton katsu (ton>pork, katsu>cutlette) (cant you say buta-niku katsu)
katsu don (katsu>cutlette, don>in a bowl of rice) (so how does one know it is pork)
katsu curry (katsu>cutlette, curry>the spicy stuff) (so again, how does one know it is pork)
kushi katsu (what is this)
kami katsu (what is this)
sasami katsu (what is this)
menchi katsu (what is this)
katsu donburi (what is this)
Ohh, fun with katsu.

Thank you! :biggrin:

No katsu as word of the day yet, we will get to it eventually.

tonkatsu is always pronounced tonkatsu, ton is another way of reading the character for buta (pig)

How does one know katsu-don is going to be pork?

hhhmmmm.... It just is :biggrin: If it wasn't, it would specify what kind of katsu it was (ie chicken-katsu, ham-katsu)

katsu curry is the same answer as above

kushi katsu, kushi are skewers, so kushi katsu refers to foods that have been skewered (can be anything from meat to fish/seafood to vegetables), then panko'd and deep fried

kami katsu? are you sure this is the right word?

kami can mean paper, hair or God and I don't think you would want to eat any of them even if they were coated in panko.....

sasami katsu, sasami is th chicken tenderloin, so this would be the katsu version of it

katsu donburi is katsudon, don is short for donburi, the Japanese LOVE to shorten things :biggrin:

torakris · March 4, 2004

I had lunch out with some mothers from the elementary school and I ordered the katsu-ni teishoku, it cost about $9.

yellow truffle · March 4, 2004

katsu-ni teishoku

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