is a Japanese dish that consists of a

breaded Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cutlet ...

, deep-fried

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with

panko Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

(

bread crumbs Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other dishes such as katsu curry and '' katsudon''.

Etymology

The word ''tonkatsu'' is a combination of the Sino-Japanese word ''ton'' () meaning "pig", and ''katsu'' (), which is a shortened form of ''katsuretsu'' (), an old transliteration of the English word "

cutlet In cuisine, cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', "rib") refers to: # a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork, or chicken # a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a ...

", which was in turn adopted from the French word .

History

Tonkatsu originated in Japan during the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

in the late 19th century, a dish derived from a French dish known as ''côtelette de veau'', a veal cutlet coated in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan with butter. European ''katsuretsu'' (

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

gairaigo is Japanese for "loan word", and indicates a transcription into Japanese. In particular, the word usually refers to a Japanese word of foreign origin that was not borrowed in ancient times from Old or Middle Chinese (especially Literary Chine ...

for 'cutlet') was usually made with beef; the pork version was created in 1899 at a restaurant serving European-style foods named Rengatei in Tokyo, Japan. It is a type of yōshoku—Japanese versions of

European cuisine European cuisine (also known as Continental cuisine) comprises the cuisines originating from the various countries of Europe. The cuisines of European countries are diverse, although some common characteristics distinguish them from those of oth ...

invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and was called ''katsuretsu'' or simply ''katsu''.

Preparation and serving

Either a or cut may be used; the meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with

(

) before being deep-fried. Tonkatsu is then sliced into bits and served, commonly with shredded cabbage. It is most commonly eaten with a thick

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

-style sauce called tonkatsu sauce or simply ''sōsu'' (sauce), ''

karashi , also known as '' oni karashi'', is a type of mustard used as a condiment or as a seasoning in Japanese cuisine. ''Karashi'' is made from the crushed seeds of '' Brassica juncea'' (brown mustard) and is usually sold in either powdered or paste ...

'' (mustard), and perhaps a slice of lemon. It is usually served with rice,

miso soup is a traditional Japan, Japanese soup consisting of miso paste mixed with a ''dashi'' Stock (food), stock. It is commonly served as part of an meal, meaning "one soup, three dishes," a traditional Japanese meal structure that includes rice, sou ...

and ''

tsukemono are Japanese preserved vegetables (usually pickled in salt, brine, or a bed of rice bran). They are served with rice as an '' okazu'' (side dish), with drinks as an '' otsumami'' (snack), as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and a ...

'' and eaten with chopsticks. It may also be served with '' ponzu'' and grated ''

daikon Daikon 大根 (だいこん) or mooli, (مولی) ''Raphanus sativus'' var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia ...

'' instead of tonkatsu sauce.

Variations

Tonkatsu is also popular as katsu curry, where it is served with

Japanese curry Japanese curry (, ) is commonly served in three main forms: (curry over white rice), (curry over thick noodles), and (a curry-filled pastry). It is one of the most popular Japanese cuisine, dishes in Japan. The very common curry rice dish is m ...

, or as '' katsudon'', simmered with egg and broth, then served on a big bowl of rice; there is also katsu rice, which is pork cutlet served on rice topped with demi-glace sauce. Another popular variation, '' katsu-sando'' or pork cutlet sandwich, is said to be originated from the Isen, a tonkatsu restaurant. In the 1930s, the manager of the Isen came up with the concept, then improved it by making the sandwich smaller so that its clientele of local geishas could enjoy it without wearing off their lipstick. In

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and surrounding areas,

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...

katsu, tonkatsu eaten with a hatchō miso-based sauce, is a speciality. Variations on tonkatsu may be made by sandwiching an ingredient such as

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

shiso ''Perilla frutescens'' var. ''crispa'', also known by its Japanese name shiso (), is a cultigen of '' Perilla frutescens'', a herb in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to the mountainous regions of China and India, but is now found world ...

leaf between the meat, and then breading and frying. KatsuSando6515

Variations of ''katsu'' other than pork: *

Chicken katsu , also known as panko chicken or tori katsu (鶏カツ) is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of fried chicken made with panko, panko bread crumbs. It is related to tonkatsu, fried pork cutlets. The dish has spread internationally and has become ...

() or tori katsu (), which uses chicken instead, often appears in Hawaiian plate lunches. * Menchi-katsu () or minchi katsu ( mince katsu), is a minced meat patty, breaded and deep fried. * Hamu katsu ( ham katsu), a similar dish made from

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

, is usually considered a budget alternative to tonkatsu. * Gyū katsu ( beef katsu), also known as bīfu katsu, is popular in the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

region around

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

. In general, breaded and deep-fried foods are called '' furai'' ("fry"), such as ''ebi-furai'' (fried prawn) and ''aji-furai'' (fried horse mackerel), but fried meat such as pork, beef and chicken is referred to as ''katsu'' (cutlet). ''Katsu'' and ''furai'' differ from

tempura is a typical Japanese dish that usually consists of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep-fried. Tempura originated in the 16th century, when Portuguese Jesuits brought the Western-style cooking method of ...

, which is not breaded but batteredNo panko appears in definition of tempura: and typically fried in sesame oil. In recent years, chicken katsu curry has become extremely popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, to the point that other varieties of Japanese curry and curry sauce are sometimes referred to as katsu erroneously.

Gallery

File:Tonkatsu by ayustety in Tokyo.jpg File:Warajikatsu Set 20200729-01.jpg File:NGO 北街かど屋味噌カツ 20240223 142043.jpg, With

sauce File:明治亭ソースカツ丼弁当20220618-P1380685.jpg, Tonkatsu in a

bento A is a Japanese-style single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in different sections). Outside Japa ...

File:AIchi Toyohashi Katsusato c20250519a.jpg, With rice and

File:Katsuya-Roppongi.jpg, Tonkatsu chain restaurant Katsuya in Tokyo

References