is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried breaded pork cutlet,

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

, vegetables, and

condiments A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separate ...

. The dish takes its name from the Japanese words '' tonkatsu'' (for pork cutlet) and ''

donburi is a Japanese "rice-bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. ''Donburi'' meals are usually served in oversized rice bowls which are also called ''donburi''. If one needs to d ...

'' (for ''rice bowl dish''). It has become a modern tradition for Japanese students to eat katsudon the night before taking a major test or school entrance exam. This is because "katsu" is a

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

of the verb , meaning "to win" or "to be victorious". It is also a

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

in Japanese police films: that suspects will speak the truth with tears when they have eaten katsudon and are asked, "Did you ever think about how your mother feels about this?" Even nowadays, the gag of "We must eat katsudon while

interrogating Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

" is popular in Japanese films. However, , police will never actually feed suspects during interrogation.

Preparation

The tonkatsu for the katsudon dish is prepared by dipping the cutlet in flour, followed by egg, then dipping in panko breadcrumbs, and deep-frying. Next, into a boiling broth of dashi,

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

and onions, the sliced tonkatsu and a beaten egg is cooked. * The PDF text misses the egg-dipping step before breading the meat. The video does demonstrate it. * video
Tonkatsu & Katsudon recipe
* web page linking to the video and PDF
Experience Japanese Home Cooking

Variants

Other bowls, made of cutlet and rice but without eggs or stock, may also be called ''katsudon''. Such dishes include: * ''sōsu katsudon'' (sauce katsudon): with tonkatsu sauce or Worcestershire sauce, from regions such as

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

, Kōfu, Gunma, Aizuwakamatsu and Komagane * ''demi katsudon'' or ''domi katsudon'': with demi-glace and often green peas, a specialty of

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

* ''shōyu-dare katsudon'': with

based tare sauce, Niigata style * ''misokatsu-don'': ' tonkatsu with a sauce made with

hatchō miso is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 386,999 in 164,087 households, and a population density of 999 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Okazaki is in the coastal plains o ...

on rice, a favorite in Nagoya Sauce Katsudon.jpg Fukui sause katsudon.jpg Aidukatudon.jpg TareKatsudon Matsuriya.jpg If pork is substituted with beef, it will be ''

gyū-katsu 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. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other dis ...

-don''. A variation made with

chicken katsu Chicken katsu (), also known as panko chicken, or tori katsu () is a Japanese dish of fried chicken made with panko bread crumbs which is also popular in Italy, Hawaii, London, California, and other areas of the world. Chicken katsu is general ...

and egg is called ''oyako katsudon'', which is distinguished from '' oyakodon'' where the meat in the latter is not fried.

References

External links

{{Rice dishes Donburi Japanese meat dishes Japanese rice dishes

Preparation

Variants

See also

References

External links