Tonkatsu
Encyclopedia
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It consists of a breaded
Panko
is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found...
, deep-fried pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
and/or miso soup
Miso soup
is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which is mixed softened miso paste. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference.-Miso paste:...
. Either a pork fillet (ヒレ, hire) or pork loin (ロース, rōsu) cut may be used; the meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with panko
Panko
is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found...
(bread crumbs) before being deep fried.
It was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese. It was originally considered a type of yōshoku
Yoshoku
In Japanese cuisine, refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking which originated during the Meiji Restoration. These are primarily Japanized forms of European dishes, often featuring Western names, and usually written in katakana.- History :...
—Japanese versions of European cuisine
European cuisine
European cuisine, or alternatively Western cuisine, is a generalised term collectively referring to the cuisines of Europe and other Western countries...
invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and was called katsuretsu (cutlet
Cutlet
Cutlet refers to:# a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of veal, pork, or mutton # a fried cutlet# a croquette made of minced meat...
) or simply katsu.
Early katsuretsu was usually beef; the pork version, similar to today's tonkatsu, is said to have been first served in 1890 in a Western-food restaurant in Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. The term "tonkatsu" (pork katsu) was coined in the 1930s.
Variations
Tonkatsu has been JapanizedJapanization
Japanization is the process in which Japanese culture dominates, assimilates, or influences other cultures, in general. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the word Japanize means To make or become Japanese in form, idiom, style, or character.Narrowly,...
over the years more than other yōshoku, and is today usually served with rice, miso soup
Miso soup
is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which is mixed softened miso paste. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference.-Miso paste:...
and tsukemono
Tsukemono
are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....
in the style of washoku (traditional Japanese food) and eaten with chopsticks. Recently, some establishments have taken to serving it with the more traditionally Japanese ponzu
Ponzu
is a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is tart, with a thin, watery consistency and a light yellow color. Ponzu shōyu or ponzu jōyu is ponzu sauce with soy sauce added, and the mixed product is widely referred to as simply ponzu.The element pon arrived in the Japanese...
and grated daikon
Daikon
Daikon , Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish, lo bok and Mooli , is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish...
instead of tonkatsu sauce.
Tonkatsu is also popular as a sandwich filling (katsu sando) or served on Japanese curry
Japanese curry
is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: , karē udon and karē-pan . Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as ....
(katsu karē). It is sometimes served with egg on a big bowl of rice as katsudon
Katsudon
A katsudon is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon , demi katsudon , shio katsudon , shōyu-dare katsudon , and miso katsudon A katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a...
—an informal one-bowl lunchtime dish.
Regardless of presentation, tonkatsu is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce that uses pureed apples as a principal ingredient and is called tonkatsu sauce (tonkatsu sōsu) or simply sōsu (sauce), and often with a bit of spicy yellow karashi
Karashi
is a type of mustard used as a condiment or as a seasoning in Japanese cuisine. Karashi is made from the crushed seeds of Brassica juncea. Karashi is usually sold in powder form or paste form in tubes...
(Japanese mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
) and perhaps a slice of lemon. Some people like to use soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
instead. In Nagoya and surrounding areas, miso katsu, tonkatsu eaten with a miso
Miso
is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...
-based sauce, is a specialty.
Variations on tonkatsu may be made by sandwiching an ingredient such as cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
or shiso
Perilla
Perilla is the common name of the herbs of the genus Perilla of the mint family, Lamiaceae. In mild climates, the plant reseeds itself. There are both green-leafed and purple-leafed varieties, which are generally recognized as separate species by botanists. The leaves resemble stinging nettle...
leaf between the meat, and then breading and frying. For the calorie conscious, konnyaku is sometimes sandwiched in the meat.
Several variations of tonkatsu use alternatives to pork:
- Chicken katsu , which uses chicken instead, often appears in Hawaiian plate lunchesPlate lunchThe plate lunch The plate lunch The plate lunch (Hawaiian: pā mea ai is a syncretic menu item that is a quintessential part of the cuisine of Hawaii, roughly equivalent to a Southern U.S. meat-and-threes plate. However, the inclusion of pan-Asian ingredients makes the plate lunch unique to Hawaii....
. - Menchi katsuMenchi katsuis a breaded and deep-fried ground meat cutlet or croquette. The meat is usually ground beef, or pork, or sometimes a mixture of the two. It is a rather pedestrian dish often served in inexpensive bento and teishoku....
is a minced meat patty, breaded and deep fried. - Hamu katsu ( ham katsu), a similar dish made from hamHamHam is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
, is usually considered a budget alternative to tonkatsu. - Gyū katsu ( beef katsu), also known as bīfu katsu, is popular in the KansaiKansaiThe or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
region around OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
and KobeKobe, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
.
A similar cuisine with ingredients other than pork, beef or chicken is called furai (fry), not katsu (cutlet), such as aji-furai (fried horse mackerel) and ebi-furai (fried prawn).
Prices for a tonkatsu vary from 200 yen for a precooked tonkatsu from a supermarket to over 5,000 yen in an expensive restaurant. The finest tonkatsu is said to be made from kurobuta (black pig) from Kagoshima Prefecture
Kagoshima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...
in southern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Tonkatsu outside Japan
- Saengseonkkaseu ( fish katsu) is a Korean fish cutlet modeled on the Japanese dish. Tonkatsu in Korea is known as donkkaseu or donkaseu , a simple transliteration of the Japanese wordJapanese writing systemThe modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:*Kanji, adopted Chinese characters*Kana, a pair of syllabaries , consisting of:...
to Korean.
See also
- KorokkeKorokkeKorokke is the Japanese name for a deep fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette. It was introduced in the early 1900s. This dish is also popular in South Korea where it is typically sold in bakeries....
- Wiener schnitzelWiener schnitzelSchnitzel is a traditional Austrian dish made with boneless meat thinned with a mallet , coated in bread crumbs and fried. It is a popular part of Viennese, Austrian cuisine and German Cuisine...
- CotolettaCotolettaCotoletta is an Italian word for a breaded veal cutlet....
- Japanese cuisineJapanese cuisineJapanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
- Chicken TatsutaChicken Tatsutais a Japanese-style fried chicken. Tatsuta indicates a way of cooking, which is a type of deep frying. After marinating meat/fish, sprinkle the meat with Japanese katakuri-ko before frying. You can use corn starch if you don't have katakuriko. Tatsuta dishes are cooked with pork or mackerel as...
- Tonkotsu (豚骨) – not to be confused