How to Make Tonkatsu with Pickled Shallot Lean Mayo Dip
International dishesFried DishesJapan40 minutes
Tonkatsu gives you pork with a deep golden, crisp crust and juicy meat inside, served with shredded cabbage chilled in ice water. The dip is mixed from finely chopped cu kieu (pickled shallot) and pickled cucumber, so it is sour and crunchy and cuts the richness well.
The hardest part is frying to a good color without drying the pork out. Pounding both sides to an even thickness is what makes the pork cook evenly. Once breaded, it goes into the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes so the coating sets; straight into the pan and the crumbs slide off.
This batch weighs about 764g, at roughly 94 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 300g pork loin and trim off the sinew and silver skin. Lay it on a board and pound both sides evenly with a mallet or the back of a knife until it is tender and of even thickness.
Season the pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and leave it for 10 minutes.
Separate the leaves of 1/2 white cabbage, wash them, stack them and cut them into very fine shreds, then soak them in ice water for 10 to 15 minutes to crisp up. Wash 1 tomato and cut it into wedges, and drain the parsley.
Make the dip: finely chop 30g pickled cu kieu and 30g pickled cucumber, put them in a bowl with 0.9g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1g black pepper and 90g Lean Mayo. Mix until smooth and thick, then taste again.
Set out three separate dishes: one of all purpose flour, one of panko breadcrumbs, and a bowl with 2 beaten chicken eggs. Turn the pork in the flour, dip it in the egg and coat it in panko, then chill it for 15 to 20 minutes so the coating sets.
Heat oil deep enough to cover the pork and fry each piece for 3 to 4 minutes a side until evenly golden and crisp. A longer fry than that dries the meat out.
Pile the drained shredded cabbage on a plate with a few tomato wedges and a sprig of parsley. Cut the pork into slices 1 to 1.5cm thick, lay them on the plate and serve hot with the dip and yellow mustard.
Tips
Choose large flake panko breadcrumbs for a light, crisp crust.
Pickled cu kieu and pickled cucumber are sold ready made at the supermarket, and finely chopped sour pickled cucumber, squeezed dry, works instead.
Squeeze the cu kieu and cucumber as dry as possible before mixing, since leftover water thins the dip and sours it quickly.
The Lean Mayo dip rests in the fridge for 10 minutes to thicken before it goes to the table.
There is only 0.9g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend here, so stir well and wait 5 minutes for it to dissolve before tasting.
Reheat in an air fryer at 160 to 170 degrees C for 5 to 7 minutes to keep the crust crisp, and keep it out of the microwave.
Need the monk fruit sugar or Lean Mayo?
These two are what kOBE cooks with in the recipe above. See the product page or send us a message.