Katsu-no-hana

Tonkatsu. Japanese for simple deliciousness (not really). It's pretty hard to screw up fried meat. Pound, Batter, Fry. I'd like to give a shout-out to the Portuguese, who brought the idea of frying (and meat) to Japan back in the day.

A gateway food for those looking to explore Japanese cuisine. It is definitely the first J-dish I remember liking as a kid. When I was living in Tokyo I took an occasional breather from my daily ramen double-dose for some fried pork goodness. This post is named after my favorite katsu restaurant. That name means "flower of the cutlet".

Ingredients:
-pork (I used boneless sirloin chops)
-flour
-egg
-panko
-salt

Process:
Tonkatsu is carpaccio's third, fried, pork cousin. I pound the meat till it is 2/3 or 1/2 its original thickness with the spikey side of the Meat Hammer (yes, that name will always be capitalized here). Then i sprinkle with some salt.

The meat.
The pounded meat - it's bigger!

Cover with flour. Dip in egg. Cover in panko.

The three horsemen of frying.

Pork Pile Challenge: Spot the meat.

Drop in hot (canola) oil. You know it's hot enough when you drop a crumber of panko and it fizzle-floats to the top.

If that's not a floating crumb..

Fry till golden brown and delicious

!

Notes:
-Cabbage is more traditional than spinach, but... I had spinach so I subbed it in.
-The egg is leftover from the fry-dip. Waste not, Want not, eh??
-That is hot mustard. Not Hot Tabastard.
-The final step is to apply liberal amounts of Tonkatsu sauce (I use Bulldog, for sentimental reasons).
-The chopsticks make me feel more authentic.

Katsu-don tomorrow, for a record third post of the week. Also stay tuned for Fresh Bacon.