Katsudon

Zen Buddhist monks cry, "Katsu!" during martial arts training; literally, "Victorious! (勝つ)" Today, students down a bowl of the sound-alike dish katsudon before a big exam in the hopes that they too will be victorious. Hey, it can't hurt.

Katsudon, named from the marriage of the Japanese words tonkatsu (pork cutlet, 豚カツ) and donburi (rice bowl, 丼), was born in the last century when cooks began using simmered tonkatsu over rice in donburi rice bowl preparations. The result is pure comfort food, combining the salty goodness of deep-fried breaded pork with savory soup and rice.

Katsudon
Serves six.

• 1.5 lbs. pork tenderloin
• salt and pepper
• 1 c. flour
• 3 eggs, beaten with 2. T water
• 2 c. panko
• oil for deep frying
• 2 c. dashi stock
• 5 t. sugar
• 6 T shoyu
• 6 T mirin
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 c. cooked green peas
• cooked rice

Freeze the pork for half an hour to firm it up, then slice 1/8 inch thick cutlets. Salt and pepper to taste then set aside while prepping the breading.

Place the flour, beaten eggs and panko in three separate, shallow bowls. Dredge each pork cutlet with flour and knock off any excess. Dip the cutlet in egg and then panko. Press the panko crumbs into the cutlet to coat evenly, then place the coated cutlet on a tray. Once you've coated all the cutlets, refrigerate for two hours.

Heat one inch cooking oil to 325 degrees. Cook the cutlets a few minutes on each side until golden brown, removing them to drain on paper towels when done. It's better to cook in small batches than to crowd the cutlets into the pan. They need good oil circulation and steady temp to cook to their best. Congratulations, you now have tonkatsu. Slice the tonkatsu into 3/4 inch strips, but keep the strips aligned as whole cutlets.

While you're letting the cutlets cook, bring your stock ingredients (dashi, sugar, shoyu and mirin) to a simmer in a wide pan. Figure that you'll be laying the cutlets into this pan without overlapping--divide the stock into multiple pans if you need more room. Add sliced onion and simmer a few minutes until tender.

Add the sliced tonkatsu cutlets, lifting them with a wide spatula as whole cutlets and sliding them gently into the stock. Immediately pour the beaten egg over the tonkatsu, onion and stock. Cook just until the egg is nearly solidified. If you cook too long at this stage, the steam while soften the crispy tonkatsu coating.

Divide cooked rice into six large bowls. Top each rice bowl with a cutlet and a portion of the onion, egg and stock mixture. Garnish with the cooked peas and serve immediately. I make no promises that you'll now ace your exam, but at least you'll be well-fed. Katsu!

More info:
→ Oyako Donburi uses chicken instead of tonkatsu.
→ Another katsudon recipe, this one at mmm-yoso!!!
→ The origins of tonkatsu.
→ Katsudon at Wikipedia