Do you have any leftover chicken, pork cutlets or rice? Turn leftovers into a nice piping hot Japanese meal. Katsudon is a staple dish for many Japanese households. Made of pork cutlet with a runny egg on rice, it is the ultimate comfort food. But the real secret to this dish is the savoury sweet sauce that flavors the egg and blends all the ingredients together.
For those not familiar with Japanese cuisine, it could be a little daunting, getting to grips with all the ingredients. So we've broken down the katsudon recipe into 9 ingredients:
- Dashi Stock (1/2 cup) Dashi is a soup stock made from bonito fish. It is also usually flavored with kelp and mushrooms. These are available in little sachets that you can use when needed. It's always good to have this in your pantry as it is useful for other Japanese dishes like Miso soup and Chawanmushi. Make a half cup of dashi for the katsudon recipe.
- Mirin (1/2 Tbsp) Mirin is a sweet seasoning made out of rice alcohol. This is another staple that you should have in your fridge if you like to make Japanese food
- Sake (1/2 Tbsp) Japanese rice wine. It's always good to have a bottle of sake around.
- Soya Sauce (1 Tbsp)
- Sugar (1/2-1 Tbsp)
- 2 Eggs (beaten)
- Garnish: Spring Onions or Seaweed (sliced thinly)
Steps:
1/ Pour the dashi stock, mirin, sake, soya sauce and sugar into a small saucepan and boil. Turn the heat to medium and let simmer for a minute
2/ Add pork or chicken cutlet into the sauce
3/ Add egg mixture. Cover the saucepan with lid and cook until egg is just cooked but still runny
4/ Pour cutlet and egg mixture onto a bowl of steamed rice. Garnish with spring onions or seaweed.
