{"id":20610,"date":"2021-05-11T12:27:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T10:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=20610"},"modified":"2021-05-11T12:51:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T10:51:14","slug":"thin-light-tonkatsu-japanese-breaded-pork-cutlets-in-an-air-fryer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/?p=20610","title":{"rendered":"Thin Light Tonkatsu (Japanese Breaded Pork Cutlets) in an Air Fryer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tonkatsu is the first dish I dream of whenever I go to Japan and, apart from having it several times during the stay, I always do my best to make it my first and last meal of the journey. I have also been preparing it at home for many years, Even though mine is not even half as good as in Japan, I prepare it quite often. Actually, I love it so much that, if it wasn’t for the fat, I would have it at least once a week. With fat content reduction in min I started to bake it in the oven, but it didn’t compare to the real thing (contrary to the baked chicken katsu, which gave quite satisfying results). Anyway, I hoped an air fryer would be a better, less drying and less time-consuming solution and after years of hesitation (my kitchen and pantry lack space for such a bulky appliance), I bought it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you have obviously guessed the air-fryer experiment was a success! A real revolution for someone as fond of tonkatsu as I am! Not only is it less dry than the oven-baked, it’s also quicker and much more convenient for small batches. I won’t lie : it’s not as good as the deep-fried original, but I find it genuinely delicious, though different. (By the way, I found air-fried chicken katsu even juicier and closer to its deep-fried version!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I prepare now both tonkatsu and chicken katsu so often, I have hardly tested anything else in my air fryer (apart from falafels, which were a big flop), so if you have experience with this appliance, please do share it with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click below if you want to make the real original deep-fried tonkatsu:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TIPS: Sprinkling the tonkatsu with sesame oil is not necessary, but it does improve the taste (for sesame oil lovers) and the texture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve tested different thickness options and my favourite was 1 cm thin and crispy tonkatsu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If using tenderloin, you can cut a bit thicker slices and shorten the cooking time (I’d test 10 minutes at 180\u00b0C), but I haven’t tested this cut yet, so I cannot say for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course you can use chicken breasts instead of pork loin, cutting them in two lengthwise, to make them thinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every air fryer is different, so you might have to test first the timing for the brand and size you own (mine wasn’t the most famous brand). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theory you could use “normal” breadcrumbs, but I have no idea what the texture and taste would be like once cooked. Anyway, whenever I can, I always use the Japanese panko because it’s lighter and crispier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation: about 30 minutes<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients (serves two-three, 2 batches in my air fryer):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 thin slices of pork loin (about 1 cm or a bit more than 1\/3 inch thick)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

about 10-12 heaped tablespoons of panko<\/em> (Japanese breadcrumbs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 tablespoons wheat flour<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 egg, slightly beaten<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

salt, pepper<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

sesame oil (or any other oil)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

tonkatsu sauce to serve (or a mixture of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce) or mayonnaise + taberu rayu<\/a> sediment<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat a frying pan and heat (medium heat) a thin panko layer until it starts becoming golden (stir constantly and pay attention because it burns easily).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Season the pork slices generously with salt and pepper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dust the pork slices with flour, dip them in the beaten egg and coat in panko, pressing so that the whole slice is covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place the tonkatsu in the air fryer basket, spray\/sprinkle with oil (only the upper side) and fry at 180\u00b0C for 11 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep them in a warm oven until you finish frying all the batches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serve on rice, on finely shredded cabbage or in a sandwich, with tonkatsu sauce or with mayonnaise and chili paste (or chili oil sediment).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tonkatsu is the first dish I dream of whenever I go to Japan and, apart from having it several times during the stay, I always…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82,184],"tags":[45],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20610"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21166,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610\/revisions\/21166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}