Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet)

Variations

• Snipping the sinew is the same problem ossobuco ties string around. That page puts it this way: "The silvery ring of connective tissue round the outside of the slice contracts as it cooks. Untied, two hours later the meat has been pushed off the bone." Collagen shrinks sooner and much further than muscle does, and a loin cutlet has exactly such a ring round its edge — left whole it pulls the cutlet into a bowl in the pan and leaves the middle thick. Cut through it every couple of centimetres and the ring becomes segments that cannot pull as one. One dish ties it, the other cuts it.
• Panko coarseness is a dial the corpus already sets in two places. Gyukatsu says "use fresh panko — dried crumbs are dense: they make a thicker, harder shell and need longer in the oil to colour", and kushikatsu crushes its panko fine on purpose, which is what makes the Osaka version what it is. Tonkatsu sits at the far end: coarse crumbs pressed on hard, a thick shell, and therefore a longer time in the oil. The 170°C is the other half of that choice.
• Katsudon: Simmer the cutlet with onion and egg, served over rice.
• Katsu curry: Set the cutlet on Japanese curry rice (see that recipe).
• Cheese tonkatsu: Fry with cheese tucked inside for a melty pull.
• Chicken/fish katsu: Use chicken breast or white fish instead of pork.

Tips

• Snip the connective tissue so the cutlet doesn't curl while frying.
• Press the panko on firmly for a thick, crunchy crust.
• Keep the oil at 170C — too hot burns the outside before the inside cooks.
• Stand it up to drain and rest so carryover heat finishes it juicy.
• Soak the shredded cabbage in cold water to crisp it and cut the richness.
• Why 170°C. Deep frying sets out the trade — too cool and oil seeps in, too hot and only the outside cooks — and fried chicken lands at 165°C for bone-in pieces by the same arithmetic. A 1.5-2cm loin wants about six minutes at 170°C, and at 180°C the crust will not survive them.
• Standing it up does two jobs. One is resting: gyukatsu states that "fried meat needs resting for the same reason grilled meat does" (cooking meat and resting). The other is the underside — laid flat on paper it steams itself soft (serving temperature). Upright solves both at once.
• Shake the cabbage dry after soaking. Kushikatsu says the same thing: "soaked in cold water and shaken dry it stays crisp." Left wet it thins the sauce on the plate.