Recipe: Tonkatsu (Breaded Pork Cutlets)

Serves 4

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup flour

2 eggs

¼ cup water

1 (3 ½-ounce) box panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Canola oil for frying

Steamed rice and shredded cabbage as accompaniments

Tonkatsu Sosu (see recipe)

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees or to "warm" setting and line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag.

2. Cut the pork tenderloin into 8 pieces. Put the pieces, one at a time, between layers of plastic wrap and pound them into thin rounds about 5 inches across. Sprinkle the rounds with salt and pepper, and set aside.

3. Set up three wide-rimmed soup bowls. Put the flour in the first bowl. In the second bowl, beat the eggs with the water until smooth. Put the panko in the third bowl.

4. Working with one piece of the pork at a time, dip each in the flour, shake off the excess, dip in the egg mixture and allow the excess to run off, then lay in the panko, turn and pat gently to coat both sides with the panko.

5. Put 3 inches of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and when the oil is hot enough to brown a cube of bread in 30 seconds, fry the pork, two pieces at a time. Cook, turning once, until the crust is golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes altogether.

6. Hold the first browned cutlets in the warm oven on the paper-lined baking sheet while the remaining cutlets are cooked. When all the cutlets are cooked, cut them into strips about a half-inch wide and serve with steamed rice, shredded cabbage and Tonkatsu Sosu.

Greg Atkinson 2005