Faux Pork Tonkatsu

Yep, I just made that up.  There’s no such thing.

I was craving pork tonkatsu.  I had half a napa cabbage left, and that seemed like the perfect thing to go with it.  One small problem, though:  I didn’t think I had quite enough panko left to bread two chops.  And then there was the grease.  I just wasn’t in the mood to look at a pan full of grease.  (What does come over me sometimes?)  So I decided to deconstruct pork tonkatsu and make dinner out of its essential elements.

That would be pork.

There it is, thinly sliced and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  I used boneless chops.

Panko and Japanese tonkatsu sauce.  From Japan.  By way of my favorite Korean-Japanese grocer.

Cabbage.

Shredded and tossed with rice vinegar, mirin, sugar and sesame oil.  With peanuts and scallions for crunch and heat.  I measured nothing, so I can’t tell you how much of what — just fiddle with it until it tastes the way you want it to.

I toasted a bit of panko in a skillet with a teensy tiny bit of oil.  This goes fast.  Panko toasts beautifully.

Then it’s time for the pork.  Stir fry it.  Dump it on plates, sprinkle it with the toasted panko, and drizzle on some tonkatsu sauce.

That’s it.  That’s all there is.  Fast and easy, and pretty darn good.  Not as decadent as real tonkatsu, but every now and then I want something that isn’t decadent.  Really.  It happens.  That moment could even come back around in your lifetime.  Like Halley’s Comet.

 

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