Featured Comment:
“Usually I modify recipes or follow them very loosely but this was too perfect my only change was using shallots – was so good even my picky dad liked it. Never had katsu coat so neatly as well.”
– Laurie
What is Katsudon?
Katsudon (カツ丼) is a popular rice bowl dish topped with breaded deep-fried pork cutlet and onion simmered in soy sauce and dashi broth and drizzled with egg. It is one of the most well-loved Japanese donburi dishes among children and adults.
While Katsudon is most commonly made with pork, you can also make it with chicken. This dish is usually served in:
- Canteens
- Soba restaurants
- Udon restaurants
- Bento shops
- Convenience stores…etc
How I Developed This Recipe
I truly believe that katsudon is the ultimate bowl dish. To come up with a recipe that lives up to this grand title, I tried out a lot of different things, making small changes to every detail.
I used kombu for the broth to keep the pork’s flavor rich and fresh, and I skipped the dried bonito flakes. This subtle choice really makes a big difference, allowing the pork to shine through. The egg is just sweet enough, creating a delightful embrace around the crispy pork cutlet.
I’m really proud of this katsudon recipe. I hope you enjoy trying it as much as I do!
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Boneless pork chop: We’ve got a delicious boneless pork chop ready for you. The star of our tonkatsu! In Japan, you can easily find the right cuts for tonkatsu, but for people overseas, boneless pork chops are the best and most convenient option. Look for chops with a good mix of meat and fat for the juiciest result.
- Panko breadcrumbs: For that signature crispy texture, Japanese-style panko is the way to go. European-style breadcrumbs can work in a pinch, but authentic panko is the way to go for that distinctively light and airy coating. Did you know you can easily make panko at home? For more details, check out my “Panko 101” article!
- Cooking oil: Go for a neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point to get that perfect golden-brown crust.
- Dried kelp: his umami-rich ingredient gives your katsudon broth a fantastic depth of flavor. If you can’t find kombu, don’t stress. You can use other types of dashi or even water if you need to.
- Yellow onion: White onion can be used as a substitute.
- Mirin: If you want the most authentic flavor, look for “hon mirin” (本みりん).
- Sugar: Any granulated sugar will do the trick, but I’ve been leaning towards light brown cane sugar in most of my dishes lately.
- Chicken bouillon powder: This is what gives our sauce its savory depth.
- Soy sauce: Take a look at my soy sauce guide for some brand recommendations.
- Eggs: This recipe is designed for medium-sized eggs, but don’t worry if you only have small or large ones on hand.
- Cooked Japanese short-grain rice: Do you need some rice recommendations or cooking tips? My “How to Cook Japanese Rice” recipe has everything you need, from brand suggestions to foolproof stovetop methods.
- Japanese wild parsley: Perfect finishing touch to your katsudon. If you can’t find mitsuba, finely chopped green onions are a great alternative.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Japanese Katsudon at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
If you prefer to watch the process in action, check out my YouTube video of this katsudon recipe for a complete visual walkthrough!
Soak a piece of dried kelp (kombu) in water for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I recommend cooking your rice while you wait for the kombu to soak. If you can, try to use soft water to get the most out of the umami from kombu!
Dashi (Japanese soup stock) is essential in Japanese cooking and adds umami and authentic flavor to any dish in which it’s added. Rather than using regular dashi made with bonito flakes, I make kombu (dried kelp) dashi for this recipe. This is because I want to add umami to the broth without the fishy taste that comes with regular dashi.
Start preheating your oil for deep-frying to 170°C (338°F).
While you wait, take your pork and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on each side. Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut incisions in the fatty parts the pork. This will help prevent curling.
Wrap each pork chop with plastic wrap, and use a tenderizer or rolling pin to pound it until about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick. Making the pork thinner will help it cook quicker and more evenly, while the pounding itself tenderizes the meat.
Take three plates/wide containers and add all-purpose flour to one and panko breadcrumbs to another. Crack an egg into the last one and add a small amount of cooking oil and milk. Whisk thoroughly until the egg, oil and milk has combined.
While simply using a whisked egg with nothing added is common and fine to do, adding a small amount of oil helps the egg stick better to the meat. It also makes a barrier that helps keep the flavor inside. Many Japanese restaurants use this simple tip! As for the milk, its used to soften the pork even further and stretch the eggs a little further if making a lot of katsu!
First, coat the pork with flour. Make sure it’s fully covered with no gaps, and then pat the surface gently to remove the excess. If there is too much flour, it is actually more likely to create a gap between the meat and the batter, or even cause the batter to fall off. Best practice is to coat thin and evenly.
Next, coat in egg. Again, make sure it’s fully covered with no gaps.
Finally, coat in the panko breadcrumbs. You can be generous here and gently press them down to secure them.
Once the oil is heated, add the breaded pork and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, you can test the oil by adding a crumb of panko. If it sizzles and floats then the oil is hot enough (if it sinks then it needs to heat up more).
When you add the katsu, it will crackle loudly due to the moisture in the raw meat. The loud bubbling and cracking will subside when the meat is cooked through.
If you’re not sure, use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat. Pork should reach 63°C or 145°F before you take it off the heat.
Transfer the cooked katsu to a wire rack and leave it to rest. Not only does this allow the excess oil to drain off, but it also allows the juices in the meat to redistribute, leaving you with a juicy and tender cutlet.
Take your kombu dashi and pour the contents of the jug (including the sheet of kombu) into a frying pan. Bring to a simmer and remove the kombu, then add mirin, light brown sugar and chicken bouillon powder. Mix until the ingredients have dissolved into the broth.
Cut the onion into thin wedges and add them to the broth. Simmer over a medium heat until softened to your preference.
Cook the onions thoroughly to release their natural sweetness to the dish and create a deeper flavor!
Cut the katsu into strips about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick and place it on top of the onion.
First, separate the eggs so the whites and yolks are in separate bowls.
Lightly whisk the whites and then pour them around the katsu.
The key to making silky tonkatsu is not to beat the egg too much before adding the pan. If you whisk the egg too much, it will become foamy and airy rather than silky and soft.
Place a lid on top and steam for about 1 minute.
Once you pour the beaten egg around the pan, try not to interfere with it. If you touch the egg before it hardens, it’ll mix with the sauce and mess up the egg.
Whisk the yolks and then pour them around the katsu.
Runny egg yolks are my favorite way to serve up eggs. However, if you add the whites and yolks at the same time, then the yolk can become firm and, in my opinion, overcooked.
To get around this, I first separate the egg whites and yolks and add the whites to the pan. Once they’re cooked, I turn off the heat, whisk the yolks, and drizzle them over the dish. If you put a lid on the pan for 1-2 minutes, the yolks will cook a little in the residual heat. This method makes sure the whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny!
Turn off the heat and place a lid on top. Leave the yolks to cook in the residual heat until it’s cooked to your preferred firmness.
Fill serving bowls with rice two-thirds of the way up.
If you’re looking for the best donburi, you’d have to go with freshly cooked Japanese rice. Check out my rice brand recommendations if you don’t have it yet!
Place the katsu and egg on top and garnish with Japanese wild parsley (mitsuba). If you don’t have mitsuba, you can sprinkle chopped green onion instead!
Enjoy with side dishes like miso soup, spinach salad, or light-flavored pickles!
Jump to Full Recipe Measurements
I hope you enjoy this Katsudon recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Rice Bowl Recipes
Want more inspiration? Explore my Donburi Roundup Post for a carefully selected collection of tasty recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Katsudon (Japanese Pork Cutlet Bowl)
Equipment
- Japanese-style fryer
- Stainless steel cooking tray with wire rack
Ingredients
For the Katsu
- 2 boneless pork chop
- 2 pinches salt and pepper
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- 50 g panko breadcrumbs
- cooking oil for frying
Katsudon
- 5 g dried kelp (kombu)
- 150 ml water
- 100 g onion
- 50 ml mirin
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder I use youki garasupu
- 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- Japanese wild parsley (mitsuba) optional to garnish
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
Make kombu dashi
- Take a jug and submerge 5 g dried kelp (kombu) in 150 ml water. Soak for 30 mins to 1 hour or until the kombu has rehydrated.
Katsu
- Preheat oil to 170 °C (338 °F).
- Make incisions in the fatty parts of 2 boneless pork chop to prevent curling and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on each side.
- Pound the pork chops to tenderize the meat, they should be about 2cm thick.
- In a wide container, add 1 egg, 1 tsp cooking oil and 1 tbsp whole milk. Whisk thoroughly.
- Prepare two more plates or containers, one with 4 tbsp all-purpose flour and one with 50 g panko breadcrumbs.
- Coat the pork with flour on both sides, brush off any excess.
- Next, dip them into the egg mixture.
- Finally, transfer the pork to the panko and coat all over. Press the surface lightly to secure the panko.
- Test the oil temperature with a crumb of panko, if it sizzles and floats then the oil is ready. Carefully place the coated pork 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.
- Cut into 2cm slices and set aside for later.
Donburi
- Cut 100 g onion into wedges.
- Once the kombu is rehydrated, place a saucepan on the stove and pour in the contents of the jug. Turn on the heat to a low setting and slowly bring to almost boiling (small bubbles will appear around the edge, but don't let it boil).
- Remove the kombu, add 50 ml mirin, 1 tbsp light brown sugar, 1 tsp Chinese-style chicken bouillon powder and mix.
- Add the onion to the pan and turn up the heat to medium, cook until the onion is softened.
- Add 2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) and stir to distribute it, then lay the katsu over the top.
- Separate 3 eggs into two bowls and whisk the whites.
- Pour the egg whites around the pan (don’t add the yolks yet).
- Place a lid on the pan and allow the eggs to steam for about 1 minute.
- Lightly whisk the egg yolks and then pour them around the pan.
- Place the lid back on and turn off the heat. Allow the egg to cook in the residual heat until it’s cooked to your preferred firmness.
- Dish up 2 portions cooked Japanese short-grain rice into serving bowls and place the katsu and egg mixture on top.
- Garnish with Japanese wild parsley (mitsuba) "mitsuba" (optional).
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- If you decide to substitute the kombu dashi for instant dashi, reduce the water to 100ml.
- You can use chicken katsu or beef katsu 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.
Easy to follow, turned out great. Thanks
Thank you for your comment and rating 🙂 Glad you liked it!
I loved all the detail you put into this recipe. It really made my dinner party a success. The only thing I changed was tripling the onion because we really like onion.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you and your guests enjoyed my recipe, I’m also happy to hear that you could easily adjust it to suit your tastes. Thank you for the generous rating too!
Is there something I can substitute for the chicken bullion? I am allergic to chicken….
Sorry to hear about your allergy, vegetable stock powder would also work in this case. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Made this for my wife just last night, right before her very important test, partly cause Ive wanted to make it for a while, but well, it seemed like the perfect opportunity
We eat Oyakodon quite often,since it’s both delicious, cheap and easy to make in the middle of the week, and while this is slightly more labour intensive, it wasjust as easy! Loved the way the sauce was made, since I’ve made it in a pot before, and tried in a pan this time, really made it more syrupy!
Thank you!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Katsudon is the perfect dish to eat before a test, I hope your wife aced it!
I have made this twice now, and it’s delicious. I like the explanation of the name, the origin of the dish, and your personal experience with it. You do a fantastic job on this on this and the other recipes you share. I’ve tried a few others and they are just as good. Thank you for presenting all of this.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Glad to hear you’re enjoying the content and recipes, it means a lot!
usually i modify recipes or follow them very loosely but this was too perfect my only change was using shallots – was so good even my picky dad liked it
never had katsu coat so neatly as well
Hi Laurie,
Thank you so much for making this recipe! I’m so happy to hear that you guys enjoyed it! 🙂
Yuto