The best homemade Japanese deep fried pork cutlet (tonkatsu recipe) ever. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, a family favorite!

Tonkatsu Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 boneless pork loin chops (½ inch thick)
• kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
• 1 large egg (50 g w/o shell)
• ½ Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
• ½ cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (30 g; or fresh panko if you can find it)
• 3 cups neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc) (720 ml; for deep frying)
• Tonkatsu Sauce (See Notes for homemade recipe)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For Tonkatsu, I highly recommend to use fresh panko (we call it "Nama Panko"). It's fresh bread crumbs not dried one. You can use food processor to make fresh panko from white bread (use only soft part of bread). Or you can spray regular panko with water and leave for 15 minutes. Also, when you select panko, look for packages with bigger crumbs as they are suitable for Tonkatsu.
2. Remove the extra fat and make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat. The reason why you do this is that red meat and fat have different elasticity, and when they are cooked they will shrink and expand at different rates. This will allow Tonkatsu to stay nice and flat when deep frying and prevent it from curling up.
3. Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or if you don’t have one then just use the back of knife to pound. When using knife, crisscross by first pounding top to bottom then left to right.
4. Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands.
5. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
6. In a large bowl or plate, add ½ Tbsp. of oil for each egg you use and whisk them up. By adding oil, the meat and breaded coating won’t detach from each other while deep frying.
7. Dredge in flour and remove excess flour.
8. Dip in egg mixture.
9. Dredge in panko. After removing excess panko, press gently. While deep frying panko will “pop up” so at this moment they don’t have to be fluffy.
10. Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat and wait till oil gets 350F (180C). If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 350F (180C) as well. When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower Tonkatsu into the oil. Keep watching the oil’s temperature and make sure it doesn’t go over 350F (180C) or else it’ll look burnt.
11. Deep fry for 1 minute on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. If your pork chop is thinner than ¾ inch, then reduce to 45 seconds for each side.
12. Now take the Tonkatsu out and get rid of the oil by holding Tonkatsu vertically for a few seconds. Place on top of wire rack (if wire rack is not available, substitute with paper towel) and let it sit for 4 minutes. The hot oil on exterior is slowly cooking the meat as it sits. Please do not cut to check whether the inside is cooked or not. We need to keep it closed to retain the heat. While waiting, you can scoop up fried crumbs in the oil with mesh strainer.
13. After resting for 4 minutes, bring the oil back to 350F (180C) of oil again and deep fry Tonkatsu for 1 minute (about 30 seconds each side).
14. Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the Tonkatsu vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of rack/paper towel for 2 minutes. If you have to use paper towel, try to keep Tonkatsu in a vertical position so it does not get soggy on one side.
15. Cut Tonkatsu into 3 large pieces (see below) by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breading will not come off. Then cut again in between. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

To Store

1. You can store the leftover in an airtight container and freeze up to a month. To reheat, put the defrosted or frozen tonkatsu on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Bake at 350 ºF (180 ºC) for 15-20 minutes for defrosted ones or 30-40 minutes for frozen ones. Check if the inside is warm before serving.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/tonkatsu/