Japanese Tonkatsu Deep Fried Pork Cutlet

Japanese tonkatsu cut up on kale in the long white plate

Japanese Tonkatsu Deep Fried Pork Cutlet

Crispy and tasty Japanese tonkatsu (豚カツ), deep fried pork cutlets, is hard to stop eating after you try one. This simple tonkatsu recipe shows you step by step how to make crispy pork katsu at home.

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Japanese

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 418kcal

Author Tracy O.

Ingredients

4 pieces Pork cutlets (Pork chop/loin)
2 Large Eggs
½ cup All purpose flour
1.5 cup Japanese style bread crumbs
1 cup Vegetable oil
⅛ teaspoon Salt Sprinkle on the deep fried pork chop before cutting

Marinate pork:

⅛ teaspoon Salt
⅛ teaspoon Five spices

Instructions

Wash or rinse 4 pieces of pork cutlet then dry them with paper towels. Then, put them on a chopping board, cover with a plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet.
After that, put the pork chops on a plate. Sprinkle ⅛ teaspoon of salt and ⅛ teaspoon of five spice powder. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes before cooking.
Pour ½ cup of flour on a plate, cover both sides of the pork cutlets with flour.
Beat 2 large eggs in a bowl.
Dip the pork cutlet into the egg mixture. Make sure both sides of the pork chop are covered with eggs.
Pour 1.5 cups of Japanese style bread crumbs on a plate. Then, make sure both sides of the pork chop are covered with bread crumbs.
Heat up 1 cup of oil in a wok or pan, turn on fire to medium high and wait until oil gets around 350F (180C). If you don’t have a thermometer, use a wooden chopstick and dip into the oil. When you see tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick, it means the oil is hot enough for deep fry.
Gently put the breaded pork chop into the oil and turn the fire to medium low. Deep fry both sides until it turns a little brown.
Take out tonkatsu and put it on a plate. Turn the fire to medium and increase the temperature around 375F. Double deep fry cutlets which means deep fry them again until it turns golden brown.
After that, put the tonkatsu deep fried pork chops on a plate with a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle ⅛ teaspoon of salt on the deep fried cutlets and let it wait for a few minutes before cutting them.

Video

Notes

Cooking tips for how to make Japanese tonkatsu:

To marinate the meat at least 15 minutes before cooking and it turns out fine as well.
Personally I like to use Japanese style bread crumbs because it's more fluffy and crispy.
We like thin tonkatsu, so I like to use thin cut pork chop or cutlet and pound it with meat mallet.
If you want crispy tonkatsu, the trick is to double deep fried which means to deep fried pork chop again.

Nutrition