Katsudon is the king of all rice bowls! Fluffy Japanese white rice topped with a crispy pork cutlet, juicy onions and sweet dashi flavoured egg. This dish is packed with flavour and has great texture, it's no wonder it's so popular!
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Katsudon
What is Katsudon?
Katsudon (かつ丼) is made of 4 main ingredients, it's pretty simple.
- Pork cutlet
- Egg
- Onion
- Rice
All in one bowl!
Tonkatsu is a name that combines the words, "tonkatsu" (とんかつ) which means deep fried pork cutlet and "donburi" (丼) which means rice bowl. So the star of this dish is the cutlet!
Pork cutlet is made by coating a piece of pork with flour, egg and panko breadcrumbs and then frying it. (I use Hamaotome Soft Panko when I'm in Japan and JFC Panko breadcrumbs when I was in England, I recommend both!)
The rice is warm and fluffy, the egg is sweet, the onions are soft and the katsu is still crispy! It's the ultimate texture combination and there's nothing really you can dislike about it!
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Tonkatsu vs Katsudon
What's the difference?
You might be wondering, what is the difference between tonkatsu and katsudon? Many people get these confused because they're both dishes that serve a crispy pork cutlet with rice right?
Tonkatsu
Tonkatsu is the pork cutlet served on a plate with shredded cabbage and rice on the side. It's drizzled with a fruity tonkatsu sauce and if you order it 'teishoku' set meal style, it often comes with miso soup and some pickles too.
You can see our recipe for tonkatsu here, it also includes how to make delicious tonkatsu sauce from scratch.
Katsudon
Katsudon is served with the pork cutlet served in a bowl, on top of the rice. The word "donburi" (丼) literally means rice bowl after all.
The pork cutlet is cooked together with the egg, but it doesn't lose too much crispiness because the egg is not fully cooked. The katsu and egg are then placed on top of the rice.
The sauce is mixed in with the egg, which is the part that holds that special katsudon flavour. Lastly it's garnished with spring onions or nori.
So in the end, although they both contain "katsu", the dishes are actually very different!
The Popularity of Katsudon
This dish is usually served in
- Canteens
- Soba restaurants
- Udon restaurants
- Bento shops
- Convenience stores...etc
I believe it's one of the most liked dishes by Japanese people. It's also very popular to make it at home. You can buy pre-made cutlet and make this dish very quickly and easily!
So, let's indulge with this delicious katsudon recipe from scratch!
FAQ
"Katsu" means deep fried pork cutlet and "don" means rice bowl. So together, it means deep fried pork cutlet rice bowl.
Tonkatsu is a deep fried pork cutlet usually served with rice and cabbage on the side. Katsudon, however, refers to deep fried pork cutlet rice bowl, it's all served in one bowl along with onions and steamed egg.
Japanese donburi dishes are always made with short grain Japanese white rice. It's easiest to use a rice cooker, but we also have a guide on how to cook Japanese style rice on the stove here.
Check out our step by step video: How to Make Classic Katsudon from Scratch
Print
Japanese Pork Cutlet Rice Bowl Katsudon (かつ丼)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
How to make the ultimate donburi dish, Katsudon. Fluffy Japanese white rice topped with a crispy pork cutlet, juicy onions and sweet dashi flavoured egg.
Ingredients
- 2 bowls of cooked Japanese short grain rice (approx 300g)
- Chopped green onion (optional garnish)
For the Katsu
- 2 Boneless Pork Chops
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil (amount needed to shallow or deep fry)
- 4 tablespoon Plain flour
- 1 Large egg
- 1 tablespoon Milk
- 100g (approx 1 cup) Panko breadcrumbs
Katsudon
- 1 Large white onion
- 100ml (0.4 cups) Water
- 2 tablespoon Sake
- 2 tablespoon Mirin
- 2 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Tsuyu sauce (see note)
- 2 Eggs
Instructions
First, cook 150g rice (2 portions) with 200ml water, either in a rice cooker or see how to cook Japanese rice on the stove.
Katsu
- Rub a pinch of salt and pepper onto both sides of the meat.
- Pound the pork chops to tenderize the meat, they should be about 2cm thick.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Prepare two plates, one with flour and one with the panko breadcrumbs.
- First coat the meat with flour on both sides.
- Dip them into the egg/milk mix.
- Next press it into the panko, make sure it's fully covered.
- Now, heat the oil in a pan to 170C (340F) If you don't have a thermometer, just drop a piece of panko into the pan. When it's sizzling, you know the oil is ready.
- Carefully place the coated pork chops into the oil and cook for about 4 minutes on each side (8 minutes total) or until golden brown. When the oil stops making a crackling sound, that usually means they're ready.
- Place the katsu on a wire rack to let the excess oil drain off.
Donburi
- Cut one onion into thin slices and fry in a medium heat frying pan for a minute or so.
- Add the 100ml water, 2 tablespoon sake, 2 tablespoon mirin, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon tsuyu sauce and cook until the onion softens and the sauce is reduced by half. (approx 10 mins)
- While the onions are softening, crack 2 eggs into a bowl and mix.
- Cut the katsu into 2cm strips.
- Add the katsu to the pan and pour in the eggs, evenly distributing them over the katsu and onions.
- Leave to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Put a lid on top and turn off the heat. Allow the eggs to steam cook for 1 minute.
- Put the cooked rice into two deep bowls and serve the egg and katsu mixture to the top.
- Garnish with chopped spring onion or your preferred greens.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If you don't have tsuyu sauce, the best substitute is a sprinkle of dashi powder. You can also see how to make tsuyu sauce here.
You can use chicken or beef instead of pork for the katsu.
The egg should be a little runny in this dish but if you prefer it well cooked you can cook for a bit longer.
- Category: Rice Bowl
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Japanese
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Easy to follow, turned out great. Thanks
★★★★★
Thank you for your comment and rating 🙂 Glad you liked it!