The Japanese love their brown sauce. The leading brand (and to most Japanese the only brand) is Bulldog. If you've never tried Japanese brown sauce, think of English HP sauce but with less tang, more fruit and a more runny structure.
I'm not sure if a poll has ever been taken to find out which dish is responsible for the highest consumption of Bulldog sauce (sorry, I know this sounds a bit nerdy!) but at a guess, I would say it would be either Okonomiyaki savoury pancakes or this dish, Katsudon.
If you go into a restaurant in Japan, there's a good chance that one of the items on the menu will be Sauce Katsudon.Basically that means a Tonkatsu fillet served on a bed of rice and soft cabbage and given a good slathering of Bulldog brown sauce. Like all katsudon recipes, this makes a great one bowl lunch or dinner. When I make this in the UK, I use lettuce in place of cabbage as I find the cabbage here is a little tougher than the Japanese variety and doesn't work quite so well in this recipe - this dish demands a soft leaf with only a hint of crunch.
The Japanese typically use a lot of Bulldog brown sauce to dress this dish, but that doesn't mean you have to do so. If you can't find Bulldog sauce, then you could try this dish with HP or another brand as a substitute.
Pork Sauce Katsudon is quite simple to make, especially if you have made any of my other katsu dishes - the basic technique for making a katsudon doesn't really vary - just the cooking time depending on what type of katsu you're cooking. Just follow the simple "how to" or watch the video tutorial and you'll have it down in minutes! I have one tip when it comes to buying your pork for this recipe. Choose loins which aren't too thick - 1 - 1.5cm (+/- 1/2 inch) is about right. If you buy thicker loins, you will have to extend the cooking time and this may overcook the panko breadcrumb coating and cause it to burn.
You can find the written recipe just below and for the Youtube tutorial click Pork Sauce Katsudon or scroll to the bottom of the page.
Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX.
Would you like to pair this dish with a simple, easy salad? Why not check out my Daikon salad in Honey Vinaigrette.
Pork Sauce Katsudon
ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
2 pork loin chops
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
40g plain flour
50g ‘panko’ breadcrumbs
150g lettuce*
450g cooked japanese rice
some Bull-Dog sauce
1/2 lemon
chopped parsley (optional)
some cling film
some veg oil for deep frying
some kitchen paper
*shredded soft cabbage is always served with katsu in Japan, however the cabbage available in the uk tends to be quite hard, so I use lettuce instead
how to:
finely shred the lettuce
place the pork loins on a chopping board and cover with some cling film, (you don't need to wrap the loins just a single sheet of clingfilm will do), then tenderise on both sides using the back of a knife
remove any excess fat from the pork
coat the pork in the plain flour, making sure you get a nice uniform coat including the edges
now repeat this process using the beaten egg, again making sure the whole pork loin is covered in an eggy film
repeat again with the panko breadcrumbs
heat 2cm of veg oil in a sauce pan and heat to 180’C. if you don;t have a cooking thermometer to test the heat, drop in a little breadcrumb - if the crumb bubbles on contact with the oil and floats to the surface, you are ready to deep fry
deep fry your katsu for 2 mins on each side. be sure to adjust the heat so the oil doesn’t get too hot - you are aiming for a uniform golden brown colour for the panko breadcrumbs
turn the katsu twice more, fry for 1 min more on each side (if your pork loins are quite thick, you may need a little more frying time)
to assemble your katsudon, put 1/2 the rice in each serving bowl & cover with a bed of shredded lettuce
then, cut the katsu into 1cm slices and place it on the lettuce
your katsudon is ready. garnish with lemon wedges & some chopped parsley, if available, then drizzle with some brown sauce
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