Chew on This: A lesson in tonkatsu

When my colleague Andrew Curliss told me that he would have some Silky Pork for me to cook in my own kitchen and to share with a few chefs, I was intrigued.

I wondered if Triangle chefs had ever heard of this pork, raised in North Carolina and shipped to Japan, where its flavor is prized.

I quickly got my answer. Silky Pork, which is not available in the U.S., was unknown to the chefs I contacted. But what was very familiar to them was the dish in which it often stars: tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu is a thin piece of boneless meat that is breaded and then fried. Many food cultures have a version of this dish; some using pork, others veal, beef or chicken. In France, it’s called escalope; in Italy, scaloppine; in Germany, schnitzel. Triangle diners may recognize the cheese pork at Crooks Corner’s in Chapel Hill as a riff on this classic preparation.

I sought out a couple of chefs to give me a cooking lesson and tell me how Silky Pork stands up to what’s available in the U.S.

I ventured into the kitchen with chef Mike Lee, who owns Sono, a sushi restaurant in downtown Raleigh, and plans to open M Sushi, a kaiseki-style Japanese restaurant with Peruvian and Spanish influences in downtown Durham next year. Lee, 38, is a Korean-American chef who has traveled to Japan several times as part of his culinary training and who serves tonkatsu as a lunch special at Sono.

For those who want to try to make tonkatsu, Lee has good news: “This is one of the few things that you are going to make better at home.”

There are several keys to making good tonkatsu. First, Lee explained, is the bread crumbs. Now, he’s not talking about panko, the Japanese bread crumbs now ubitquitous in American grocery stores. They’re not coarse enough, Lee said. He prefers slices of classic American white bread dried in the oven and crumbled to shards.

The other key is getting a good coating of the bread crumbs on the pork. Cover the pork completely with flour, Lee said. This helps the beaten eggs to stick, which helps the bread crumbs to adhere. The final key, Lee explained, is cutting the pork as soon as it comes out of the fryer or the skillet.

“This is not a steak,” Lee said. “In case of frying, you want to cut it and let it rest. The steam has to have someplace to go.”

‘Very pure pork’

Once Lee showed me how to make tonkatsu, we finally got to taste the Silky Pork. His verdict: “That’s good pork. It has a very clean pork flavor. That is very pure pork.”

Lee was pleasantly surprised because the pork loin we obtained for newsgathering purposes and cooked doesn’t look all that different from pork loin you could buy at the grocery store.

That leads me to my next adventure with the Silky Pork. I took some to chef Justin Meddis of Rose’s Meat Market & Sweet Shop in Durham to get his take on how the Silky Pork compares to pork sold in the U.S. Meddis’ store only sells pasture-raised pork, which is more expensive than the pork sold at mainstream groceries.

I brought a pork shoulder blade, which is used in Italy to make capicola, in China to make barbecue, and in Japan to make shabu-shabu.

“You don’t normally see this cut,” Meddis said, lining the shoulder blade up on the counter, next to a similar cut of a pasture-raised meat. A visual inspection of the two cuts surprised Meddis, who noted both were well marbled.

“This is absolutely the most flavorful cut for fresh cooking,” Meddis said of the shoulder blade. “Most other countries realize how valuable this cut is, but you don’t find this cut in grocery stores.”

He sautéed two slices, one from each shoulder blade. We tasted the Silky Pork first. “It’s good,” Meddis said.

Then we tasted the pasture-raised pork. It was richer, gamier, had a fuller pork flavor. We both liked it better.

While I may never be able to get my hands on any more Silky Pork, at least I learned how to make tonkatsu.

Even if all I can afford is the pork loin on special at the grocery store, we all know breading and frying makes everything taste better. If I want to really splurge, Meddis’ butcher shop is only a short drive away.

Tonkatsu

This recipe is adapted from chef Mike Lee, owner of Sono, a Japanese restaurant in downtown Raleigh. Rice bran oil can be found at Asian grocery stores.

3-4 pounds boneless pork loin

8-10 slices soft white bread, such as Sunbeam

About 7 eggs

About 2 cups all-purpose flour or cornstarch

Salt and pepper, to taste

Rice bran oil or a combination of butter and lard or butter and duck fat

WRAP pork in paper towels to draw out some of the moisture. Let sit on the counter to come to room temperature before cooking.

HEAT oven to 500 degrees. Lay bread slices on a rack atop a rimmed cookie sheet. Place bread in oven for 2-3 minutes, watching closely. The bread needs to be dried out but not too hard; slightly soft is OK. Remove from oven. Cut off crusts and let cool. (Letting bread cool before making crumbs is key; otherwise steam will create damp bread crumbs.)

TEAR bread into pieces, place in a food processor. Blitz until what remains look like “shards.” Do not overprocess.

BEAT eggs together in a medium size bowl. Place flour or cornstarch in a pie plate or baking dish. Place bread crumbs in a second pie plate or baking dish.

POUR enough rice bran oil into a large cast-iron skillet for oil to come up half-way on the meat or into a deep fryer or a Dutch oven for meat to be submerged in oil. If using deep fryer or Dutch oven, heat oil to 350-360 degrees. If using skillet, heat a mixture of butter and lard or butter and duck fat over medium-high heat.

REMOVE paper towels from pork, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Score both sides of the pork slices lightly with a knife to help tenderize the meat and prevent it from curling when frying. Season it lightly with salt and pepper. Dip pork into flour, completely covering both sides. Dip floured pork into egg, completely covering both sides.

PLACE pork on top of bread crumbs and press down. Don’t move the meat; use hands to move and press extra crumbs onto any bare spots. Gently flip meat over and repeat. Place gently into fryer or skillet. Cook 3-5 minutes until meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, flipping halfway through. Remove from heat and place on a cutting board. Cut meat into diagonal strips to let steam escape and help crust retain its crispiness. Let rest for 2 minutes.

ENJOY. If desired, serve with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top, tonkatsu sauce for dipping and shredded cabbage on the side.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Chew on This: A lesson in tonkatsu."