Katsudon Sando
Everything in a katsudon, stacked in thick milk bread: a pork cutlet dipped in dashi-soy sauce, sweet simmered onion and a fluffy egg slab, cut to show the layers.
Method
Nick the sinew of the pork, tap it with the back of the knife and shape it to roughly the size of your bread. Season with salt and pepper, then coat in flour, beaten egg and panko, pressing the crumbs on firmly.
Add in this stepBoneless pork loin, 1 cm thick (about 100 g per piece) 2Salt 2 pinchBlack pepper 1 pinchPlain flour 1½ tbspEgg (for coating) 1Panko breadcrumbs 30 g
Pour the oil about 1 cm deep into a 26 cm frying pan and heat on medium heat to 170 °C: a pinch of panko should sizzle at once. Lay the pork in, away from you, fry for , turn and fry for more. If it says ×2, fry in two batches. When both sides are golden and a cut shows clear juices and no pink, drain on a rack.
Add in this stepVegetable oil (for frying) 150 ml
medium heatPut the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and thinly sliced onion in a 18 cm small pan and simmer on medium heat for , until the onion is soft and the liquid has reduced by half and looks glossy. Dip each cutlet in the sauce for just 1 second per side; any longer and the crust goes soggy.
Add in this stepDashi (bonito stock) 80 mlSoy sauce 4 tspMirin 4 tspSugar 1 tspMedium onion ½
medium heatBeat the eggs in bowls, two per sandwich. Melt one portion of butter in a 16 cm ×2 non-stick pan on medium-low heat, pour in the eggs and stir in big sweeps for , until they form large, soft, still-glossy curds, then fold the edges in to make a square about the size of the bread. If it says ×2 or more, make one omelette after another the same way.
Add in this stepEggs (for the filling) 4Butter 10 g
medium-low heatMix the mayonnaise and mustard and spread thinly on one side of each slice of bread; this stops the sauce soaking in. Toast the bread lightly first if you like.
Add in this stepThick-sliced milk bread (2 cm) 4Mayonnaise 2 tbspJapanese mustard (karashi) or Dijon mustard 1 tsp
On one slice, layer the cabbage, the cutlet, the simmered onion and the egg, then top with the second slice. Wrap tightly in cling film and leave for to set, then cut in half through the film with a bread knife to show the layers.
Add in this stepFinely shredded cabbage 40 g
Cook's tip
Saw gently with a bread knife instead of pressing down for a clean cross-section. With a leftover cutlet it's much quicker: crisp it in the oven or toaster and start from step 3. Eat within 2 hours of making.
Cooking it at camp
Made at home, wrapped tightly and packed in the cooler, it makes a perfect first-day lunch. To assemble at camp, fry the cutlets at home and cook only the sauce and eggs in a small pan on a burner.