3-Ingredient Tonkatsu (Katsu) Sauce (2024)

FAQs

What is tonkatsu sauce made of? ›

Tonkatsu sauce mainly consists of vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, prunes, dates, apples, lemon juice, carrots, onions, and celery. It also includes more than 10 kinds of spices along with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.

Tonkatsu sauce is a Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce that is thicker, similar to brown sauce. Although the sauce is typically pretty complex, a nice simple way to make it at home is to simply mix Worcestershire sauce with ketchup along with some soy sauce.

Short for tonkatsu, katsu sauce is essentially the Japanese equivalent of Western barbecue sauce. It's sweet and tangy with an umami undertone that packs a flavorful punch. You'll usually find it served with pork tonkatsu, a popular dish of breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet with cabbage and rice.

Tonkatsu (Katsu) Sauce goes amazingly with fried foods; I love eating it with other fried Japanese food, such as Japanese Fried Chicken – Chicken Karaage or Air Fryer Chicken Karaage. In Hawaii, I've had Mochiko Chicken served with Tonkatsu (Katsu) Sauce on the side with Hawaiian Mac Salad and a bowl of white rice.

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 dishes such as katsukarē and katsudon.

The taste of tonkatsu sauce

Tonkatsu sauce has a complex flavor of sweetness, sourness, and pungency. Its sweet taste majorly comes from fruits and vegetables; sour taste from vinegar; and its spicy punch based on spices.

The simplest phonetic translation of "cutlet" to Japanese vocalizations is katsuretsu, which in turn is shortened to katsu. Add ton—the Sino-Japanese word for "pork"—to the front of that and you've got tonkatsu, or breaded fried pork cutlets (not to be confused with tonkotsu, which is pork-based ramen broth). * Got it?

The major difference between tonkatsu sauce and Worcestershire sauce is tonkatsu sauce is usually thicker in texture while Worcestershire sauce is spicier in taste, but both can be a great accompaniment to tonkatsu and other deep-fried dishes.

In short, the sauce is just Japanese curry. Katsu is not the name of the sauce. The sauce is of course inspired by Indian curries, but it was actually the British who introduced Japan to it, via their colonisation of India at the time.

Meaning of katsu in English

a Japanese dish consisting of a piece of meat, usually chicken, or vegetable, covered in bread crumbs, fried, then usually cut into strips and eaten with a sauce: One of my favorite dishes growing up, chicken katsu is basically the Japanese version of fried chicken.

What cut of pork is best for katsu? ›

Pork – There are two cuts of meat we typically use for this dish: pork loin (ロース rōsu) or tenderloin/fillet (ヒレ hire). Both cuts are fairly lean, but pork loin has a layer of fat that gives the Tonkatsu an extra tender bite when cooked properly.

Tonkatsu sauce or katsu sauce is a Japanese sauce served with tonkatsu (pork cutlet). It is a thick (viscosity over 2.0 pascal-second, per JAS Standard) Japanese Worcestershire-type sauce.

Pork Katsu (also known as Tonkatsu) is a Japanese fried pork cutlet that's usually served with a sauce called tonkatsu sauce, a cabbage salad and steamed rice.

Description. Tonkatsu sauce could be thought of as the Japanese tomato or bbq sauce. While the sauce is a derivative of English Worcestershire sauce, the flavour developed over time to suit to the tastes of the Japanese people.

Turns out the raw cabbage was a lot more popular— diners liked how it freshened the mouth and it didn't make them feel so heavy or sluggish after. The restaurant gained a lot more popularity after the switch, and other restaurants began to serve their tonkatsu with shredded cabbage.

A very healthy, nutrient-dense sauce! Our sauce contains an abundance of vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, onions, carrots, apples, lemon, and prunes.

The word tonkatsu is a combination of the Japanese word ton (豚) meaning “pig” and katsu (カツ), which is a shortened form of katsuretsu (カツレツ), the Japanese version of the English word cutlet.

Korean don-gaseu is different from Japanese tonkatsu in that it is thinner and often served unsliced, thus eaten with a knife and fork, not chopsticks, and is served with demi-glace on top of the fried meat (or in case of fish cutlet, tartar sauce on the fried fish).