Tonkatsu

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tonkatsu -pork cutlet

So, you’re craving Japanese, but you don’t really fancy the entire raw fish line up. What should you eat? If you don’t what sushi or sashimi per se, there is always that middle ground between Asian and Western. A lil bit of the East.. a lil bit of the West.. I am talking about Tonkatsu, of course!

Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) was invented in the late 19th century, and is a popular dish in Japan. It consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet one to two centimeters thick and sliced into bite-sized pieces, generally served with shredded cabbage and/or miso soup. Either a pork fillet or pork loin cut may be used; the meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in flour, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with panko (breadcrumbs) before being deep fried. This hearty dish is usually topped with Worcestershire or special Tonkatsu sauce to taste, and garnished with Wagarashi, Japanese hot mustard. Tonkatsu may be inherently Western, but it goes quite well with miso soup and rice, and is generally served in convenient bite sizes that can be plucked up easily by chopsticks. Here at Tonkatsu ( by Wa Kitchen, named after the dish, surprise-surprise!), you are encouraged to grind your own sesame seeds and add the sweet sauce to taste. The resulting paste is aromatic and complements the pork cutlet to prefection. It really brings out the aroma in the meat.

For those who love all things “cutlet”, there are plenty of dishes made using tonkatsu. Aficionados can enjoy katsu-don (pork cutlet rice bowl), katsu curry rice (curry and rice with pork cutlet) or katsu-sando (pork cutlet sandwich). Whatever form of hankering, if you are big on pork meat, then tonkatsu will definitely fit the bill;)

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grind it

Here you see my hand model, preparing the dipping sauce! Tonkatsu is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce that uses pureed apples as a principal ingredient and is called tonkatsu sauce and often with a bit of spicy yellow karashi (Japanese mustard) and also a slice of lemon

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pour it

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mix it

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ta-dah!

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pork belly with ginger sauce

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Dipping the fatty pork into the Tonkatsu sauce, enhanced the flavour of the meat

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Rice is a must!

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Set meals here cost around RM20 – 30 bucks, and all the tonkatsu sets come complete with side dishes of miso soup, rice, tofu & pickled veggies. Check out the miso soup. We we totally impressed with the amount of chicken, carrots, mushrooms and even japanese seaweed jelly in the miso soup. Definitely a bargain eating here.

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Add:
Tonkatsu
Lot 6.12, Level 6, Pavilion KL
Jalan Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur, 50480
03-2144 2292

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