Tonkatsu Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What does tonkatsu sauce contain? ›

Tonkatsu sauce mainly consists of vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, prunes, dates, apples, lemon juice, carrots, onions, and celery. It also includes more than 10 kinds of spices along with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.

Tonkatsu sauce is a Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce that is thicker, similar to brown sauce. Although the sauce is typically pretty complex, a nice simple way to make it at home is to simply mix Worcestershire sauce with ketchup along with some soy sauce.

Short for tonkatsu, katsu sauce is essentially the Japanese equivalent of Western barbecue sauce. It's sweet and tangy with an umami undertone that packs a flavorful punch. You'll usually find it served with pork tonkatsu, a popular dish of breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet with cabbage and rice.

Cornstarch Vs Flour

If you don't have cornstarch, use flour. Both will work! I have made tonkatsu with both, and I prefer cornstarch because I feel that it clings to the pork better and yields a crispier crunch.

Another advantage of tonkatsu sauce in terms of taste is it's resistant to quality deterioration and oxidization thanks to vinegar, salt, and spices. However, for best quality and longer expiration date, it's recommended to refrigerate tonkatsu sauce once opened.

There are two main cuts of pork used for tonkatsu: hire-katsu meaning “pork fillet”, and rosu-katsu, meaning “pork roast”. Hire-katsu is made with a lean pork tenderloin, while rosu-katsu uses a richer cut of pork that comes with a strip of fat along the side.

Tonkatsu (豚カツ, とんかつ or トンカツ, pronounced [toŋkatsɯ]; "pork cutlet") is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin.

Pork – There are two cuts of meat we typically use for this dish: pork loin (ロース rōsu) or tenderloin/fillet (ヒレ hire). Both cuts are fairly lean, but pork loin has a layer of fat that gives the Tonkatsu an extra tender bite when cooked properly.

In truth, tonkatsu and tonkotsu are very different. The main similarity is that they both feature pork: Ton translates to pig or pork. But the dishes differ: Tonkatsu refers to crispy fried pork cutlets, while tonkotsu is a type of ramen made from bone broth.

Meaning of katsu in English

a Japanese dish consisting of a piece of meat, usually chicken, or vegetable, covered in bread crumbs, fried, then usually cut into strips and eaten with a sauce: One of my favorite dishes growing up, chicken katsu is basically the Japanese version of fried chicken.

What to eat with tonkatsu sauce? ›

Tonkatsu (Katsu) Sauce goes amazingly with fried foods; I love eating it with other fried Japanese food, such as Japanese Fried Chicken – Chicken Karaage or Air Fryer Chicken Karaage. In Hawaii, I've had Mochiko Chicken served with Tonkatsu (Katsu) Sauce on the side with Hawaiian Mac Salad and a bowl of white rice.

The only thing to be concerned about is temperature management. Too cold, and your bread crumbs will take too long to crisp, allowing the meat to overcook. Way too cold, and they'll slough off before they can even set. Too hot, and they'll burn before the meat is done.

Cooking this too hot will char your delicate breadcrumbs, and cooking it too cold will give you soggy, oily katsu.

Easy-to-access alternatives are wheat flour, arrowroot flour, and rice flour. These are good alternatives to cornstarch because they are more nutritious and contain fewer carbohydrates and calories. Xanthan and guar gum are much stronger thickeners than cornstarch, but they can be harder to obtain and use.

Heat Stability: Cornstarch begins to gelatinize in water around 144–162°F (62–72°C), and fully gelatinizes around 203°F (95°C).

A very healthy, nutrient-dense sauce! Our sauce contains an abundance of vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, onions, carrots, apples, lemon, and prunes.

The main similarity is that they both feature pork: Ton translates to pig or pork. But the dishes differ: Tonkatsu refers to crispy fried pork cutlets, while tonkotsu is a type of ramen made from bone broth.

It is a thick (viscosity over 2.0 pascal-second, per JAS Standard) Japanese Worcestershire-type sauce. It is similar to a brown sauce (British Isles), and can include a fish sauce, tomatoes, prunes, dates, apples, lemon juice, carrots, onions, and celery among its ingredients.

Ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, distilled vinegar (made from alcohol), tomato paste, salt, rice starch, apple puree, yeast extract (contains soy & gluten), prune paste, spices (contains celery), carrots, onions, lemon juice. Contains GM source ingredients.