Dinner Last Night...Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork Cutlet)

Tonkatsu

This is another of my favorite Japanese dishes.  It's a very homey dish in Japan that you eat often at home   or  you can go out and get it because there are so many restaurants that serve it!  In Japan, many of the restaurants are specialized.  For instance, a place would mainly serve Tonkatsu or Sushi or Yakitori or Ramen  etc.   Traditionally, tonkatsu is served with raw, thinly sliced cabbage and rice. There are many restaurants that serve the Tonkatsu with all-you-can-eat rice & cabbage!

The sauce that is used for it is "Tonkatsu Sauce", it's similar to a Worchestershire Sauce that's sweeter and thicker. My favorite brand that I grew up from childhood is Bulldog.  Some restaurants make their own gourmet sauce.  It's also good with a little Japanese yellow mustard.

Pork Round

There's a new butcher in the area called Lindy & Grundy and I've been wanting to try it, but I heard that when they first opened it was very crowded, so I waited until now to go.  OMG, they are the best!  It is run by two sweet young ladies and they are actually the butchers that break down all their meats!  The night before I went, they said that they had just cut up 2 whole steers!!  I had a nice conversation with both of them and they both have the friendliest and best personalities!  One of them is half Japanese and grew up in Japan, so she is the one that advised me about what cut of pork to use for my tonkatsu.  Oh, and the store has free parking in the back...a rarity in LA!!

http://lindyandgrundy.com/

Seasoned w/Salt & Pepper...

I usually use pork loin and get it at the Japanese market, but I didn't have time to go there so I ended up at Lindy & Grundy.  The butcherette recommended the round and she even pounded it for me:o)  It turned out really good! Their pork tastes like old fashioned porky pork not the bland grocery store type pork!  I was thinking about it on the drive home and next time I would get the pork chops and that way I can use the loin as the tonkatsu, make stock out of the bone and then use the outer meat for the Tonjiru Soup!

Floured & Egged...

I seasoned the flour, egg wash & panko with salt and pepper.  The egg has a little bit of milk & water added to it.  Just like I did with the eggplant parm, I used dry, wet, dry method...flour, egg, panko...

Ready to be fried...

Deep Frying in the Wok...

Since these were so thin, I fried the tonkatsu in 350 degrees oil until they were nice and brown.

Yummy!

It kinda looks like a sandal...lol

Slicing the Cabbage...

I'm not that great at slicing the cabbage super thin, but the Benriner (Japanese mandoline cutter) usually makes it too thin for my liking ;o)  The bigger chunks of cabbage, I put in the Tonjiru.

Soaking in Ice Water...

I put the cabbage in ice water to crisp it and clean it...

Drying...

After draining the cabbage, I wrap it in a dish towel and then put it in the refrigerator until it's ready to eat.

Pork for Tonjiru Soup

Tonjiru is a common soup served at tonkatsu places.  It's a miso soup with pork and veggies.  It's usually made with a simple dashi stock, but I like to make it with pork stock.  I wanted to use pork belly for this, but I forgot to get it at the butcher, so I used up one of the pork rounds.  

Pork sauteeing with Sake...

I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper & dashi powder then sauteed in Rice Bran Oil.  After it was cooked through, I added sake to it and let the alcohol evaporate.  I then took out the pork because I didn't want it to get overcooked then added the pork stock.  I had pork stock I'd made in the past in the freezer:o)  To the stock, I added potatoes and cooked until it was soft.  At the end, I put the pork back in and added some cabbage and the miso.

Tonjiru

This is one of my favorite ways to have miso soup!  It's a little bit time consuming to make since you need to cook the pork first.  Every family has a different way of making this soup and as usual, mine isn't the most traditional;o)

Cabbage & Tomatoes

I like to put a little of the tonkatsu sauce and kewpie mayo on my cabbage.  My girlfriend gave me these beautiful tomatoes!  They are called Kumato Brown Tomatoes, they have a nice acidity to it.  She is so sweet, she also got me a beautiful Basil plant too:o)

Tonkatsu w/Japanese Mustard & Cabbage

Panko

Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce & Kewpie Mayo

Kewpie is a little different than American mayo because it uses only egg yolks and has a little bit of vinegar in it and is also a little thinner.

Rice Bran Oil

This is my favorite oil to use for Japanese dressings and for deep frying.  I can find it at the Japanese store only sometimes.  It has a very clean flavor to it.

Kewpie, Mustard & Bulldog

I slather this combo on bread to make sandwiches...

Tonkatsu Sandwich

My favorite leftover with Tonkatsu are sandwiches :o)  It just has thinly sliced Tonkatsu, the raw Cabbage and the mayo combo on Japanese white bread.  There's something about the Japanese bread that I really like, it's different than just having Wonderbread!  It must be nostalgia from childhood again.  This is the thin sliced one, but they also have ones that are sliced about 3/4" thick!  I forgot who, but I remember when the Winter Olympics were in Japan, one of the skiers was saying how much he hated the thick bread and was making fun of it...lol 

This type of sandwich is commonly sold as Bento (Lunch Box) at Japanese train stations.  They usually have the crust cut off and don't have the cabbage in it.  The most popular is sold by a restaurant called Maisen in Tokyo and of course they have the best tonkatsu sets too!

Lunch Today - Steak Sandwich w/Leftovers...

I love making meals out of leftovers.  It's a game to me of what I can come up with that's different than the original dish.  This one isn't that hard to come up with, but it still is leftovers!  

Fixin's for the sandwich...

This time I figured out an easy way to add the veggies to the sandwich. (Not that a sandwich isn't easy)  Duh!  Just mix it all up just like a salad! I guess I'm a slow learner sometimes..  At sandwich shops I sometimes see them add oil, vinegar, salt & pepper to the lettuce on the sandwich, but sometimes that makes the bread soggy.  Last time I made a sandwich and I added the dressing to the lettuce only, I thought I was brilliant;o)  Today I came up with the salad idea.  Instead of layering all the veggies, why not just mix it up! This one has mixed greens, red onion, tomatoes, pepperoncini's & avocado on the side.  Then I added a simple dressing of oil, red wine vinegar, salt , pepper and some other seasonings.  I added the dressing right before putting the sandwich together.  There also was watercress with the leftovers, so I threw that in too.

Sliced Steak Ready!

We got the leftovers from a small restaurant called Sly's in Carpinteria, CA.  I didn't like the restaurant much when they first opened, but they've really warmed up on me;o)  Sly was the chef at Lucky's Steakhouse in Montecito and then decided to open his own restaurant a few years ago. He's French trained, so he also has a rotating Prix Fixe French course every month.  Of course the steak isn't as good as Dan Tana's, but it's pretty good!  He uses the freshest of ingredients!  Last night I noticed that even the twist that they put in  my Martini was organic.  As soon as I put it up to my mouth I could smell the wonderful aroma of a lemon, I thought it could be a Meyer lemon, but it turned out it was just a regular organic lemon.  I think sometimes we forget what stuff is really supposed to smell like.  I was raving to the waitress and chef about how impressed I was by this, so they gave me one of the lemons with the rest of my leftovers!  It's the small things and gestures that put a big smile on my face :o)  Also, their Coconut Cake is to die for...

For the sliced steak I seasoned with soy sauce, ajishio and pepper.

French Roll

One of my pet peeves is that it's hard to get a good sandwich!  I think it's mainly the bread and of course the meat inside.  I think the only sandwich I like eating out is at a deli called Bay Cities in Santa Monica.  They have an Italian sandwich called the Godmother.  Some people think that it's overrated, but I don't think you can get much better than that!  They bake their own bread, so whenever we go I get a couple of loaves to go and freeze it.  I cut it into serving size, wrap in foil, put in baggie then freeze it. To thaw it, I put in oven or toaster oven @425 degrees for 15 mins and it's almost like having fresh baked bread!  I wasn't able to go to Bay Cities, so I had some frozen bread from Vons Grocery in the freezer.  I'm pleasantly pleased and surprised at how good the French rolls are at Vons!  If I can get a decent roll from Vons why can't sandwich shops get at least that quality??

Steak Sandwich w/Avocado & Salad...

To peel and slice an avocado can be a pain and messy, so I just scoop it out with a spoon and put it on the sandwich.  It's all going to get mooshed together, so presentation doesn't matter that much.

Nov 2009 - Lasagna, Pot Roast & Pot Roast Sandwich

Lasagna Terrine

I was at my brother-in-laws for dinner one night when he served lasagna. I love lasagna, who doesn't right?  I was telling him that I don't like making it because you have to make so much and usually I'm just cooking for just the two of us.  A little bit of leftovers are fine, but I don't want to have to eat the same thing for a week!  He showed me his Le Crueset Terrine dish and said I should use this...  Of course, he didn't gift his to me, so I went out and got one for myself;o)  It's the perfect depth and width for the lasagna noodles!

I've tried making lasagna with both Bechamel Sauce and Ricotta Cheese. I like it better with ricotta, I think it's because that's what I grew up with!  I used leftover shredded beef from a previous dinner to make this.  I freeze everything, so if I dig around in the freezer, I can always find something to make dinner with :o)

 Pot Roast

I don't really understand Pot Roast and don't usually make it.  Why do people prefer this over stew?  It seems very similar, but I know that pot roast is braised whole and sliced & stew is cubed.  Stew is also quicker and easier to make.  This did turn out well, but I think Pot Roast "sounds" better than it really is...lol

To make this I used Chuck Roast and braised it for about 3 hours.  I added sauteed onions & garlic at the beginning and then added carrots, celery & potatoes in the last hour of cooking, so they wouldn't get too mushy.

Pot Roast Sandwich

The main reason I had made the Pot Roast was to make this sandwich.  I saw an episode of Diners, Drive-ins  & Dives and saw a delicious sandwich at one of the featured restaurants.  It's always a hoot to watch Guy!  I liked the leftover sandwich better than the main meal ;o)

Oct 2009 - Tonkatsu & Tonkatsu Sandwiches

The miso soup just has cabbage and tofu.  When I have the time, I make it more in a traditional way called Tonjiru (Pork Miso Soup) and use home made pork stock, pork pieces, cabbage & potato.

Momotaro Tomatoes

Momotaro's are my favorite tomato.  They are found in Japanese markets during the season.  I love to eat them with a little Fleur de Sel  (Salt), Pepper & Kewpie Mayo :o)  I served this with the sandwiches that we had.