Katsudon is an incredibly delicious Japanese dish made with rice topped with the Tonkatsu then coated with a sweet and tasty onion, egg, and soy sauce mixture. It’s such a great dish because it’s so yummy and filling so it makes a perfect lunch or dinner! It’s an easy and great way to use leftover Tonkatsu and create a whole new dish with a different flavour!
What is Katsudon
Katsudon is a popular Japanese rice bowl dish with Katsu (panko-crumbed deep fried meat) soaked with sweet and savoury sauce cooked with eggs placed on top of a bed of plain rice. Don is short for Donburi (rice bowl dishes). Katsu can be with any meat and I used left over Pork Katsu.
Ingredients of Katsudon
You need Katsu (panko-crumbed deep fried meat) of any kind, cooked rice, and egg. This dish is a busy Japanese mothers’ go to dish because if you have left over rice, left over katsu, and egg in your fridge, Katsudon can be made in 10 minutes.
3 Tips to make delicious Katsudon
1.Golden ratio of Katsudon soup is 1:1:2 of Mirin:Sugar:Soysauce with 1/4 cup of dashi stock. This ratio creates perfect balance of sweetness and savoury flavour.
2. Half cooked egg. Add the egg at the end and when the egg is half cooked, remove the pan from the heat.
3. Cook for one serve at a time with a special donburi pan. If you are making Tonkatsu from scratch it will be time consuming but if you have left over tonkatsu already, even you make one at a time, it does not take long to make Katsudon and that is why Donburi dish is Japanese fast food. Japanese people buy Katsu already made from supermarket or “depachika” (underground deli stores) in department stores for short cut process.
But I don’t have the special donburi making pan！
No problems! I don’t have one either. These pans
are made specifically to make donburi dishes. It is a quite shallow pan 16-18 cm (6.3-7 inch) in diameter and the handle is attached vertically so that everything in the pan can be easily slid onto a bed of rice in a rice bowl. The copper one is recommended because of their great heat conduction. But like me if you don’t have one, you just need to use a shallow pan about 20cm (7.8 inch) in diameter frying pan.
Katsudon for Win and Conquer
Katsu is a homonyms of panko-crumbed deep fried cutlet of any meat and also the word ‘win/conquer’. So often before students take big exams, they eat anything with “Katsu” such as Katsudon, Tonkatsu, Katsusando (Katsu sandwich) before hand to believe in omens. My mother definitely made one for me and even I was feeling full by just thinking about taking exam, I ate the katsudon my my mother made with her wish for me. Why don’t you make one for yourself or your children.
Here is my recipe for Katsudon and If you liked it, please rate it and leave a comment below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
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Katsudon (Deep Fried Pork Cutlets Rice Bowl) カツ丼
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Dashi stock
- 1/4 onion Onion
- 1 1/2 cups Cooked rice
- 1/2 tbsp Mirin
- 1/2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 egg egg
- 1 piece Tonkatsu
- 1/2 tbsp green topping
Instructions
- Thinly slice the onion and cut the Tonkatsu into 1.5 cm (0.6inch) wide slices.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.
- Pour Dashi stock in a shallow frying pan and bring it to boil over medium heat.
- Add sliced onion and cook till the onion softens.
- Add Mirin, Sugar and Soy sauce and cook it for a few minutes.
- Place the sliced Tonkatsu in the saucepan and pour the eggs over the Tonaktsu.
- Cook for a further couple of minutes until the eggs are half cooked and slightly runny.
- Serve rice in a large rice bowl.
- Slide the Tonkatsu and egg and sauce over the rice.
- Topp with chopped green shallots(scallions) or Mitsuba.
I love this recipe! I’m a vegetarian, so I substituted the meat with vegetarian schnitzel and it worked really well! 🙂
That is great Katarina. Thank you!
There’s no video – ‘Jump to Video’, is there? nothing comes up when i click it.
Hi Rebacca, Thank you for letting me know. I think it is a glitch and I will fix it if I can. Thank you
First time making katsudon and it tasted delicious! Will be making this again! Thank you for the easy to follow directions and the back history and tips as well
I appreciate the background about Katsu with win/conquer. Loved knowing the idea behind why it’s such a popular dish. So easy to make and tastes good!
Everybody loved this, thank you Shihoko-san
Fantastic! Thank you for making Katsudon 😀
Great recipe!
One of the easiest to follow and most accessible Katsudon recipes I’ve found! Thank you so much, worked beautifully.
Thank you Heath. I am glad it worked for you 😀
Katsuddon buri is my absolute favorite!! My Japanese mother would always make it for my birthday. Thanks, will try your recipe soon.
Konnichiwa Pat san, Lucky you have Japanese mother <3
This was such a hit with my family. We love katsudon but I thought it would be difficult to replicate. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It worked well and tasted very good!
Thank you Leah, I am glad that you made katsudon successfully and your family loved it 😀
I had never tried anything like this before. It’s such a unique flavor and total comfort food. Delicious. I loved all the photos you included so I could make sure I was doing it right my first time around 🙂 Thanks for this tasty recipe!
You are welcome 😀 Meagen
LOVE Katsu and cannot wait to try these tasty bowls! It looks like total comfort food!
Hi Jenn, yes it is Japanese comfort food 😀