This such a simple sandwich, but it’s so satisfying and soul-warming. Katsu sando just a piece of breaded and fried pork with pre-made tonkatsu sauce between two pieces of fluffy white bread (the bread is important, so don’t try to get fancy on me here; we’re talking about Wonderbread-style). You can find a version in every Japanese convenient store, grocery store and bakery, not to mention in bento boxes sold from the windows of many tonkatsu restaurants. I tend to buy katsu sando, rather than make them, because they’re so ubiquitous in Tokyo. But the other day I had a leftover boneless pork chop, so I thought I would throw this Japanese pork cutlet sandwich together for an easy lunch. And it was so delicious that I HAD to share it with you guys.
When you eat tonkatsu in restaurants, they always serve it with spicy Japanese mustard. I LOVE this stuff, but it’s not traditional on katsu sando for some reason. Well, fortunately, when you make it yourself you can be as non-traditional as you want! So I spread a little bit of the spicy mustard on the sandwich as well. But just a little bit; the stuff can really be lethally spicy (it’s usually horseradish making it spicy, so it’s that sinus-clearing, nasal cavity-burning, eyes-tearing kind of spicy that can be very painful if you overdo it!).
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- 2 boneless pork chops, 1/4-1/2 inch thick
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- cooking oil for frying (such as vegetable oil)
- tonkatsu sauce (in the Asian section of your grocery store, or see the link in the post to buy it on Amazon)
- white sandwich bread (crusts optional)
- Optional: Japanese mustard
- Heat about 1/2 inch of cooking oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Place the flour in a dish, the egg in shallow baking dish and the panko in another dish. Season the flour with a generous pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper.
- While the oil is heating, season both sides of the pork chop with salt and pepper. Coat lightly with flour and dip in the egg wash. Coat with panko.
- Fry the pork chops in the oil until golden brown and cooked through. Should take 2-3 minutes per side, depending on how thick your chops are.
- Drain on a paper towel or cooling rack until cool enough to handle.
- Spread tonkatsu sauce on both pieces of bread. Or if using mustard, spread mustard on 1 piece and tonkatsu sauce on the other (but be careful with the mustard, this stuff can be spicy sometimes!). Sandwich the pork between the bread with the sauce sides against the pork.
- Cut in half or quarters and enjoy!
- Makes 2 sandwiches
Oh man – the tonkatsu we ate in Tokyo was to. die. for. I’m drooling for this sandwich.