Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Serves 4–6
INGREDIENTS
700 g (1 lb 9 oz) pork tenderloin, fat trimmed
plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
3 eggs, lightly beaten
300 g (10½ oz/5 cups) panko breadcrumbs
vegetable or peanut (groundnut) oil, for shallow-frying
Lime wedges, to serve
Tangy slaw
1 small cabbage, about 400 g (14 oz), shredded
50 ml (1¾ fl oz) soy sauce
2 tablespoons yuzu juice or 1 tablespoon each lime and grapefruit juice
Tonkatsu sauce
60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
100 ml (3½ fl oz) tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 tablespoon sake
1 teaspoon English mustard
METHOD
1 To make the slaw, put the shredded cabbage in a bowl of lightly salted water with some ice cubes and refrigerate for 30–60 minutes. This will help it stay crisp when you mix it with the dressing later. Drain the cabbage, spin dry in a salad spinner and transfer it to a bowl. Combine the soy sauce and yuzu juice in a small bowl and toss through the cabbage just before serving.
2 Meanwhile, to make the tonkatsu sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
3 Slice the pork tenderloin about 3 cm (11/4 inches) thick, cover with a piece of baking paper, then gently pound it with a rolling pin until it is 1.5–2 cm (5/8–3/4 inch) thick. Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow bowls. Season the pork with salt and pepper, then dust with flour, dip in the beaten egg and coat in breadcrumbs.
4 Heat 2 cm (¾ inch) of oil in a very large frying pan over medium–high heat. When hot, cook the pork in batches until brown and crisp on both sides. After 2 batches, you may want to wipe the pan clean and add clean oil. Cut the pork into 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide strips and serve it hot with the tangy slaw, tonkatsu sauce and lime wedges.
TIP: The pork can be crumbed the night before, stored between sheets of baking paper on a tray, then covered with plastic wrap. The tonkatsu sauce can be made 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated. Fry the pork cutlets just before serving as they are best crisp and hot.
Recipes and Images from My Street Food Kitchen by Jennifer Joyce, published by Murdoch books
