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What to eat with tonkatsu? The cutlet is fried and filling, so what goes with it is plain, cold or sharp. These 31 ideas cover the set meal, its sauces, pickles, other ways to serve the cutlet, and drinks.
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What do you eat with tonkatsu?
The cutlet comes sliced, commonly with a heap of shredded cabbage beside it. The usual sauce is tonkatsu sauce, a thick one of the Worcestershire type, with karashi mustard and sometimes a slice of lemon. The usual set adds rice, miso soup and tsukemono, which are Japanese pickles. Ponzu with grated daikon can take the place of the thick sauce, and around Nagoya the speciality is a miso-based sauce.
The same cutlet, served other ways
Tonkatsu also goes on Japanese curry as katsu curry, over a bowl of rice with egg and broth as katsudon, and between slices of bread as a katsu sando. With any of these, one bowl of soup or a dish of pickles is enough beside it.
- Slice the cutlet before it goes on the plate, so it can be eaten with chopsticks.
- Dress the cabbage at the table, a little at a time, so it stays crisp.
Questions and answers
What sides go with tonkatsu?
Beyond the cabbage, rice and soup of the set: pickled napa cabbage or eggplant, a round of simmered daikon, and for a bigger tray a second fried thing such as a crab cream croquette.
What sauce goes with tonkatsu besides tonkatsu sauce?
Demi-glace makes a richer plate over rice. A little yuzu pepper paste, which is yuzu peel, salt and chili peppers, adds heat, and ground sesame stirred into the usual sauce makes it nuttier.
What to eat with leftover tonkatsu?
A cutlet that has lost its crunch suits katsudon, since that one is simmered anyway. Cold slices go in a lunch box over rice, or on the last of the rice with hot tea poured over.