Katsuwaaat
Katsudon is a popular Japanese dish that consists of a deep-fried
pork cutlet (tonkatsu) served over rice, topped with egg and onion that
have been prepared in a sweet and savory sauce. It was the first meal I
had in Japan, years ago, and is one of my all-time favorites to this
day.
This is not katsudon.
It's related very, very closely to its bi-cultural cousin Katsudon't, but it is: a) easier, b) cheaper, c) faster, and d) better for you, which makes it superior in all ways, and I am actually struggling to imagine that we'll ever make meat-based katsudon again.
Yeah, it's that good. Don't believe me? Go try it for yourself. Or go fall in a hole and stay there until you've thoroughly thought about your failings. Whichever you prefer.
Ingredients
Rice
1 cup rice (dry measure)
Cutlets
1 2-3 lb eggplant
Scant 1/4 cup flour (we use whole wheat because that's what we have around the house)
2 eggs (you will need extra eggs for serving)
Black pepper to taste (use a lot, mmm)
Generous 2/3 cup bread crumbs (we use Italian seasoned, you should probably use panko)
Frying stuff
Vegetable oil enough to be 1/4" deep in a skillet
Sauce/Broth stuff
1/2 tsp dashi stock
1 cup water
3 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
Um
1/2 medium onion, sliced ~1/8-1/4" thick
1 egg per serving to go on top
Green onion if you can be arsed (we never can be)
Instructions (these assume you are making 2 servings)
Preparation
1. COOK YOUR RICE. Do this first, let it sit and think about itself while you do everything else.
2. Rinse and slice your eggplant. The slices should be no more than 1/2" thick, but since eggplants are shaped like, um, eggplants, you'll get pieces that are thicker on one side than the other. This is totally okay.
3. Place, in order, in three bowls: flour, egg, bread crumbs. This is the order in which you will dip your meats.
4. Put black pepper into the egg and whip it with a fork.
5. Mix up your broth sauce stuff and put it over low heat so it can think really hard about boiling.
6. Start heating your oil in the skillet over medium-high heat.
Frying
1. Dip each eggplant slice into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs.
2, Put the eggplant slice into the frying pan. You want to fry each side for 45 seconds or so, or until golden brown.
Finishing
1. Between fry cycles, cut up your onion. Put it into the broth sauce and let it cook so that it goes translucent.
2. Strain all of the onion out, once it's cooked.
3. Select the two fried slices you want and cut them into strips about 1/2" wide.
4. Put one sliced up slice into the broth and top it with half the onion. Let that boil gently for ~1 minute.
5. Whip an egg and pour it over top the eggplant/onion stuff in the broth.
6. Cover, allowing the egg to steam, until the whites are set. This is about 1-2 minutes.
Serving
1. This is when you should serve your rice into two bowls.
2. Serve the eggplant/egg/onion mess onto one bowl of rice.
3. Repeat "finishing" steps 4-6.
4. If you have any broth left, drizzle it on top. There shouldn't be much left.
Serve it with beer and anime of your choice!
This is not katsudon.
It's related very, very closely to its bi-cultural cousin Katsudon't, but it is: a) easier, b) cheaper, c) faster, and d) better for you, which makes it superior in all ways, and I am actually struggling to imagine that we'll ever make meat-based katsudon again.
Yeah, it's that good. Don't believe me? Go try it for yourself. Or go fall in a hole and stay there until you've thoroughly thought about your failings. Whichever you prefer.
Katsuwaaat
Ingredients
Rice
1 cup rice (dry measure)
Cutlets
1 2-3 lb eggplant
Scant 1/4 cup flour (we use whole wheat because that's what we have around the house)
2 eggs (you will need extra eggs for serving)
Black pepper to taste (use a lot, mmm)
Generous 2/3 cup bread crumbs (we use Italian seasoned, you should probably use panko)
Frying stuff
Vegetable oil enough to be 1/4" deep in a skillet
Sauce/Broth stuff
1/2 tsp dashi stock
1 cup water
3 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
Um
1/2 medium onion, sliced ~1/8-1/4" thick
1 egg per serving to go on top
Green onion if you can be arsed (we never can be)
Instructions (these assume you are making 2 servings)
Preparation
1. COOK YOUR RICE. Do this first, let it sit and think about itself while you do everything else.
2. Rinse and slice your eggplant. The slices should be no more than 1/2" thick, but since eggplants are shaped like, um, eggplants, you'll get pieces that are thicker on one side than the other. This is totally okay.
3. Place, in order, in three bowls: flour, egg, bread crumbs. This is the order in which you will dip your meats.
4. Put black pepper into the egg and whip it with a fork.
5. Mix up your broth sauce stuff and put it over low heat so it can think really hard about boiling.
6. Start heating your oil in the skillet over medium-high heat.
Frying
1. Dip each eggplant slice into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs.
2, Put the eggplant slice into the frying pan. You want to fry each side for 45 seconds or so, or until golden brown.
Finishing
1. Between fry cycles, cut up your onion. Put it into the broth sauce and let it cook so that it goes translucent.
2. Strain all of the onion out, once it's cooked.
3. Select the two fried slices you want and cut them into strips about 1/2" wide.
4. Put one sliced up slice into the broth and top it with half the onion. Let that boil gently for ~1 minute.
5. Whip an egg and pour it over top the eggplant/onion stuff in the broth.
6. Cover, allowing the egg to steam, until the whites are set. This is about 1-2 minutes.
Serving
1. This is when you should serve your rice into two bowls.
2. Serve the eggplant/egg/onion mess onto one bowl of rice.
3. Repeat "finishing" steps 4-6.
4. If you have any broth left, drizzle it on top. There shouldn't be much left.
Serve it with beer and anime of your choice!
Comments
Post a Comment