| Tonkatsu | |
| Country: | Japan |
| Region: | East Asia |
| Main Ingredient: | Cutlet (pork fillet or loin), panko, cooking oil |
is a type of Japanese cutlet (カツレツ, katsuretsu) made from pork. Slices of pork loin or fillet are coated with panko (bread crumbs) and then deep-fried in oil.
Along with karē raisu and korokke, tonkatsu was considered one of the "three great yōshoku", popular Western-style Japanese dishes that were introduced to Japan.[1]
The word tonkatsu is a combination of the Sino-Japanese word ton (Japanese: 豚) meaning "pig", and katsu (Japanese: カツ), which is a shortened form of katsuretsu (Japanese: カツレツ),[2] an old transliteration of the English word "cutlet",[3] [4] which was in turn adopted from the French word French: côtelette.[5]
Tonkatsu originated in Japan during the Meiji era in the late 19th century, a dish derived from a French dish known as côtelette de veau, a veal cutlet coated in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan with butter.[6]
European katsuretsu (loanword/gairaigo for 'cutlet') was usually made with beef; the pork version was created in 1899 at a restaurant serving European-style foods named Rengatei in Tokyo, Japan.[7] [8] It is a type of yōshoku—Japanese versions of European cuisine invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and was called katsuretsu or simply katsu.[9]
In the early Meiji era, several variations of katsuretsu were developed. These included beef cutlets (ビーフカツレツ, bīfu katsuretsu), chicken cutlets (チキンカツレツ, chikin katsuretsu), and pork cutlets (ポークカツレツ, pōku katsuretsu). Of these variations, it was the pōku katsuretsu that became the direct predecessor of modern tonkatsu.
Pork cutlets (ポークカツレツ, pōku katsuretsu) began to gain popularity around 1907 and eventually became established as one of the "three great yōshoku" (三大洋食, sandai yōshoku) during the Taishō era. As its popularity grew among the Japanese public, the modern form of tonkatsu, distinguished by its use of a thick cut of pork, began to be sold in 1929 (Shōwa 4) in the Okachimachi neighborhood of Ueno, Tokyo.
Either a or cut may be used; the meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in flour, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with panko (bread crumbs) before being deep-fried.[10]
Tonkatsu is then sliced into bits and served, commonly with shredded cabbage. It is most commonly eaten with a thick Worcestershire-style sauce called tonkatsu sauce or simply sōsu (sauce), karashi (mustard), and perhaps a slice of lemon. It is usually served with rice, miso soup and tsukemono and eaten with chopsticks. It may also be served with ponzu and grated daikon instead of tonkatsu sauce.[11]
Tonkatsu is also popular as katsu curry, where it is served with Japanese curry, or as katsudon, simmered with egg and broth, then served on a big bowl of rice; there is also katsu rice, which is pork cutlet served on rice topped with demi-glace sauce. Another popular variation, katsu-sando or pork cutlet sandwich, is said to be originated from the Isen, a tonkatsu restaurant. In the 1930s, the manager of the Isen came up with the concept, then improved it by making the sandwich smaller so that its clientele of local geishas could enjoy it without wearing off their lipstick.[12]
In Nagoya and surrounding areas, miso katsu, tonkatsu eaten with a hatchō miso-based sauce, is a speciality.[13]
Variations on tonkatsu may be made by sandwiching an ingredient such as cheese or shiso leaf between the meat, and then breading and frying.Variations of katsu other than pork:
In general, breaded and deep-fried foods are called furai ("fry"),[14] such as ebi-furai (fried prawn)[14] and aji-furai (fried horse mackerel), but fried meat such as pork, beef and chicken is referred to as katsu (cutlet).[3] Katsu and furai differ from tempura, which is not breaded but battered[15] and typically fried in sesame oil.
In recent years, chicken katsu curry has become extremely popular in the United Kingdom,[16] to the point that other varieties of Japanese curry and curry sauce are sometimes referred to as katsu erroneously.[17]
