Easy Crispy Japanese Pork Cutlet Recipe: Fried TONKATSU Baked TONKATSU

To make Japanese pork cutlets, you can use either boneless pork loin or tenderloin.

Pork-loin cutlet called Rohsu Katsu is generally juicy and meaty, which can enough fill your appetite.

Generally, the authentic Japanese rosu katsu remains a thick band of fat along the meat, and this fat brings the dish very juicy, sweet, and filling.

I normally buy an unsliced pork loin and slice pieces by myself into 1 inch.

I like fatty parts so I don’t cut off them, but you can trim them if desired.

Tenderloin cutlet called Hire Katsu is tender with a delicate flavor and makes people happy with its lower calories.

Since the pork dish is easily dry and chewy, I highly recommend marinating pork loin/ tenderloin meat with shio koji or the baking powder solution to tenderize and moisturize them which I explain in this post.

Trim and pierce the meat with a fork.

To prevent curling, warping, and shrinking, cut slits in the fat, especially, the line of the fat and the meat, with a sharp knife while placing one every two inches.

Brine the pork in the baking powder solution overnight, and marinate the pork with Shio-koji for 1-2 hours.

I don’t recommend marinating the meat with Shio-koji overnight to avoid them getting salty and dry.

I always store marinated pork chops with Shio-koji in a freezer for TONKATSU. In the freezer, koji mold stops working so the meat will not be salty.

The Heart Of Japanese Fermented Food, Koji Rice| How To Make Shio-Koji

“Shio Koji” aka Koji Rice, is an appealing fermented condiment, you can’t miss its tremendous health and cooking benefits in your life.

This mysterious condiment is deeply rooted in, Japanese culture, when you see Miso paste, soy sauce, Mirin, and Sake…, which are all made from Koji.

Not only Koji is it one of the raw materials, but also, it can be a sauce of various minerals and vitamins, and also it is often used as a condiment while adding rich Umami flavor.

It is often used to moisten and tenderize meat in Japanese cooking.

I am one of the cooking lovers who have been obsessed with Shio koji marinating.

In this post, I am going to tell you about the ultimate guide of “Shio Koji”.

To make the authentic Japanese pork cutlet, choose Japanese Panko is a better choice, however, with home cooking, you can use Italian-style bread crumbs.

Today, Japanese Panko is available even in regular US grocery stores, so you can make Japanese Tonkatsu anytime you want if you store it in your pantry all the time.

Japanese Panko isn’t seasoned nor added other flavored ingredients. Since it is also not a small particle, which gives you a flakier, airier, crunchy texture.

So, for deep-fried dishes, Japanese Panko provides a more enjoyable texture than small particle bread crumbs.

If you’re looking for super-crispy, good quality, and excellent price, go for this Kikkoman Panko on Amazon.

I’ve tried several Japanese-style Panko overseas, this is THE BEST so far.

Authentic Japanese Panko and super-crispy without any effort. (Just be careful not to cut inside your mouth. lol)

Using fresh bread crumbles can provide a restaurant-grade TONKATSU-a nice airy crunchy texture.

Since the fresh bread crumbles contain water and make spaces in the bread crumbs while evaporating in the oil, the coating will be light, airy, and crispier.

To make fresh breadcrumbs,

grate (or use a food processor) a piece of bread getting dried and hard, or frozen.

If possible, choose bread made of simple ingredients with flour, salt, and water.

Japanese Worcester sauce (ウスターソース) is a most typical sauce served with deep-fried dishes including tonkatsu.

It is made from a base of a variety of raw materials and has a rich natural sweetness unlike the original Worcestershire sauce and tangy flavor.

Japanese Worcester sauce called Tonkatsu sauce is thick, rich, and full of flavor, made for especially, deep-fried food.

My homemade Tonkatsu sauce recipe is super-easy to make with simple ingredients.

For the recipes, please check out this post which provides Miso sauce, easy Japanese Aurora sauce, and Tartar sauce recipes.

Bull Dog Tonkatsu Sauce is definitely the most popular brand.

You can use other Japanese dishes such as Yakisoba noodles, Yaki udon.

You can top TONKATSU on Japanese curry rice, this dish has been already known as “KATSU CURRY”.

Japanese curry is easy to make when using Japanese curry mix cubes.

For the Japanese curry mix guide, check out this post later.

Yes, you can!

Pan-fry Panko without oil until they turn golden brown.

Make sure to continue stirring since they easily burn.

Simply, proceed to the dredging process with fired Panko.

Bake the pork cutlet in the oven at around 420F for 15-20 minutes.