Tonkatsu (豚カツ)

Tonkatsu (豚カツ) is a Japanese food which consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. There are two main types, fillet and loin. It is often served with shredded cabbage.

Tonkatsu originated in Japan in the 19th century. As well as being served as a single dish, it is also used as a sandwich filling or in combination with curry.

Either a pork fillet (ヒレ) or pork loin (ロース) 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.

Tonkatsu is generally served with shredded cabbage. It is most commonly eaten with a type of thick Worcestershire 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.

Tonkatsu is also popular as a sandwich filling (katsu sando) or served on Japanese curry (katsu karē). Tonkatsu is sometimes served with egg on a big bowl of rice as katsudon.

Photos:

"Tonkatsu set by zezebono in Sapporo, Hokkaido" by zezebono from Tonkatsu Wako Restaurant in Sapporo, Hokkaido - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tonkatsu_set_by_zezebono_in_Sapporo,_Hokkaido.jpg#/media/File:Tonkatsu_set_by_zezebono_in_Sapporo,_Hokkaido.jpg

"KatsuSando6515". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KatsuSando6515.jpg#/media/File:KatsuSando6515.jpg

"Katsukare-" by Hykw-a4 - from ja:image:Katsukare-.jpg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katsukare-.jpg#/media/File:Katsukare-.jpg