Crispy juicy pork cutlets sandwiched between soft pillowy bread, this Japanese Katsu Sando is a homey kind of sandwich but downright satisfying! Get over your sandwich ho-hum with this new favorite. 

Katsu Sando

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (I use Kikkoman® Panko Bread Crumbs)
• ▢1 ½ Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
• ▢2 boneless pork loin chops (½ inch thick) (½ lb or 227 g each)
• ▢½ tsp 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)
• ▢1 leaf cabbage (1.4 oz, 40 g)
• ▢4 slices shokupan (Japanese pullman loaf bread)
• ▢2 tsp unsalted butter
• ▢2 tsp Dijon mustard
• ▢4 Tbsp tonkatsu sauce (I used Kikkoman® Katsu Sauce in this recipe)

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Gather all the ingredients.
  

Toast the Panko

• In a large frying pan, add 1 cup panko and 1 ½ Tbsp of oil and turn the heat to medium to medium-high.
• Lift the pan and shake it once in a while to evenly toast the panko.
• Once the panko is getting darker, keep shaking the pan to get even color. Once the panko is nicely brown, transfer to the tray.

Prepare the Tonkatsu

• Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
• 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.
• Pound the meat with a meat pounder. If you don’t have one, just use the back of a knife to pound. When using a knife, crisscross by first pounding top to bottom then left to right.
• Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• 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.
• Dredge in flour and remove excess flour.
• Dip in egg mixture. Dredge in panko.
• Press panko onto the meat and transfer to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper or even better if you have an oven-safe wire rack (as air goes through on the bottom so panko doesn’t get crushed).
• Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) until the pork is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove the tonkatsu from the oven.

Assembly of the Katsu Sando

• Thinly shred the cabbage leaf.
• Spread the butter on both bread slices (butter would act as a waterproof guard so sandwich doesn’t get soggy). Spread Dijon mustard on top of butter on one side.
• Spread the Katsu Sauce on the other side.
• Put the thinly shredded cabbage evenly on the Dijon mustard side. Then drizzle Katsu Sauce over the cabbage.
• Place the tonkatsu on top of the cabbage and top with the other bread. Place the sandwich between two plates for 5 minutes.
• Cut off the crust of the bread and cut in half.
• Serve the Katsu Sando on a plate or box.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/katsu-sando/