Steak doesn't have to be an expensive occasion. Japanese "tonteki" pork steak is served in a tangy Japanese sauce and topped with crispy fried garlic. Delicious with rice and shredded cabbage, this dish is quick, simple and easy on the wallet!
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Tonteki
What is "Tonteki"?
Tonteki is a steak dish, but instead of using beef, it uses pork chops. The pork chop is fried in a frying pan and then drizzled with a Japanese style sauce, then topped with crispy fried garlic. It's super easy to make and it's delicious! It's a perfect dinner for a week night when you don't want to spend lots of time in the kitchen.
The meaning of "Tonteki"
Tonteki is a combination of two words in Japanese. The "ton" part comes from the kanji for pig 豚. I'm sure you've seen this "ton" part in lots of other dishes such as tonkatsu (deep fried pork cutlet) and tonjiru (pork miso soup).
The "teki" part comes from the Japanese word for steak "sute-ki" ステーキ. So when you put them together, tonteki literally means "pork steak"!
Regional Dish
Tonteki is especially famous as Yokkaichi's (Mie prefecture) regional dish. It is believed to have been invented post-WW2 time but it wasn't widely recongnised like it is today until 2000's.
In 2008, even a "Tonteki association" was formed in Yokkaichi.
Ingredients
Tonteki is pretty simple and is made up of four main things:
- Thick pork chop
- Dark, thick sauce
- Fried garlic
- Shredded cabbage
Garlic
Garlic Chips
One of my favourite things about this recipe, is that we flavour the oil with slices of garlic. Not only that, but you fry the garlic until it becomes crisp like a chip and then put them on the steak at the end. It makes great taste and texture!
Garlic Oil
The garlic infused oil is then used to fry the pork chops AND make the steak sauce at the end, nothing is wasted in this recipe and it adds amazing flavour. Maybe you can try this method with other garlic sauces!
Check out the step by step instruction video for this recipe
What to serve with Tonteki
Tonteki pork steak is a pretty versatile dish, it goes with many things! Here are a few suggestions.
- Rice and miso soup (for Japanese style)
- Potato (mashed potato, potato salad, roast potato, fries etc)
- Roasted vegetables
- Salad
In Japan, we usually eat tonteki with rice. But generally, if you have a favourite side that you usually eat with steak, it will be great with tonteki too!
This recipe is simple, quick and packed with flavour. It only takes 20 minutes to prepare and cook so it's perfect for lunch or a midweek dinner. I hope you enjoy this Japanese tonteki pork steak.
Check out our video for How to make tonteki
Step by step recipe
Easy "Tonteki" Japanese Pork Steak (トンテキ)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
How to make quick, easy and delicious "Tonteki" Japanese Pork Steak with crispy garlic chips and a tangy homemade sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Pork Chops (about 230g total)
- Pinch of Salt and Pepper
- 100g (1½ cups) Shredded White Cabbage
Sauce
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Mirin
- 1 tsp Honey
- 1 tsp Butter
Instructions
- First, heat up a frying pan on a medium low heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
- Cut your 3 garlic cloves into slices and add them to the pan.
- Fry until golden and crispy, the garlic will also flavour the oil.
- Scoop the garlic chips out of the pan and place onto a paper towel to allow the excess oil to drain off. Try and leave as much oil in the pan as possible because we're going to use it again.
- Take your pork chops and cut 3 or 4 incisions on the fatty edge of the meat. This is to stop it curling when cooking.
- Sprinkle both sides with a pinch of salt and pepper and then add them to the pan.
- Put the lid on and fry for 3 minutes on a medium heat.
- After 3 minutes, turn down the heat and flip the pork chops over. Continue to cook for 3 minutes, again with the lid on. (You might need a few minutes extra if your pork chops are particularly thick)
- Transfer the pork chops to a warm plate and cover with foil to let them rest and keep them warm.
- In the same pan, add 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp butter.
- Simmer on a low heat and keep stirring. Cook until thickened and a little syrupy.
- Pile up your shredded cabbage on the sides of two plates.
- As tonteki is usually eaten with chopsticks, it's common to cut the pork steak into easy to pick up strips before placing it on the plate. This is optional though.
- Place the tonteki steaks next to the cabbage on each plate.
- Drizzle the sauce from the pan generously over the pork chops (you can also drizzle it over the cabbage and use it as a salad dressing)
- Top the tonteki with garlic chips.
- Serve with rice, miso soup and pickles (Japanese style) or your favourite steak sides.
- Enjoy!
Notes
The pork chop cooking time is an estimate and may vary depending on the thickness of the meat.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Meat
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
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Kyle
This was really good! I was out of honey so I substituted ketchup. I'm going to make it again
★★★★★
Yuto Omura
Hi Kyle,
Thank you for the comment and generous rating! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Nadine
Delicious
★★★★★
Yuto Omura
Thank you Nadine!