Good morning one and all!

Welcome back to this gravy thing we do.

Let’s call our episode today a study in food anthropology. Today’s simple dish when done properly illuminates two linked yet very different cuisines.

While hearing a lead such as “What’s the difference between Japanese and Hawaiian food” the mind can do somersaults trying not to make an ethnic joke. The answer is simple really. Hawaiian food is fusion cuisine. Take our meal today, tonkatsu is Japanese in origin and the name applies specifically to pork, but you can also find it in Hawaiian restaurants. 

One of the primary Hawaiian “plate lunch” items is chicken “katsu.” Katsu is loosely translated as “cutlet” and can apply to different types of meats. Another big item is teriyaki chicken. Quite obviously Japanese in origin as well.

If we’re getting into the Japanese influence thing, poke is also Japanese in spirit and origin. Then again kalbi style barbecue ribs are found all over Hawaiian menus but are Korean in origin.

Shit, we’ve made those ribs right here a couple of times.

That last link is from season one so we’ve been dabbling with the Island culture for a decade now.

Remember when we did Loco Moco?

And if you’re researching Hawaiian cuisine, good fucking luck coming up with the origin of spam musubi. That’s some straight up originated in the depths of Hell shit right there. Although, it’s mighty goddamn tasty.

Those Hawaiians and their fucking spam, man. Yes, I do blame the U.S. for dropping Spam on the unknowing island folks back during World War II but they’re the ones that picked that shit up and kept running with it. Still do!

The Japanese, primarily through tourism and relocation brought some of their culinary influences to Hawaii. Some folks say that the idea of the Hawaiian plate lunch is based on the Bento box. Which makes sense. 

Give me a few more weeks and I’ll give you a more detailed look at Hawaiian cuisine and a much deeper dive into the “plate lunch.”

Enough! Our focus today is Tonkatsu. Japanese style.

Lots of photos today so let’s get after it.

SERIOUSLY cheap pig right there. If you can come across a deal like this? Scoop up as much as you fucking can.

Still got a few more packs in my freezer. It’s possible you’ll see them again before the season is over.

Let’s whip up a quick and easy katsu sauce from shit we already have on hand.

Combine.

That is definitely not traditional. If you want a quick base sauce, use 1/4 cup of ketchup, a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce or oyster sauce and a tablespoon of Worcestershire. I didn’t have ketchup, oddly enough so I subbed in barbecue sauce and hoisin.

That’s right. I did NOT have ketchup but I had hoisin. That tracks.

These pork chops are definitely too thick for tonkatsu so we’ll need to butterfly them. Do your best. It may help to freeze the chops for 15 minutes or so in order to have them cut a little cleaner. Or you can just eyeball them.

Now the fun part.

Hammertime!

Notice I’ve placed a sheet of plastic wrap over the meat. You can use an actual meat hammer here but I find that it tears the meat. This technique leaves the pieces intact. Just use the edge of a skillet or pot and whack the bejabbers out of the pork.

Give it a solid whack. Or two. Release some pent up angst and tenderize the meat at the same time. 

It makes a very satisfying “Smack!” too. Bash it a few more times until you get it to about 1/4 – 1/2″ thick.

Next, grab a sheet of parchment paper, place the pork slices on top and give them a good salting.

Do this in layers if need be.

Cover the top with another sheet of wrap and sock away in the fridge. You can do this a couple of hours in advance if required.

Now let’s talk about snacks.

You regulars will often see evidence of snacking in the background of some of the Sunday Gravy photos and sometimes that’s on purpose. Some of this shit I’m cooking takes a long time to produce and requires substantial kitchen time. It’s goddamn hungry work.

Let’s get a look at the snacks from this Sunday.

These first.

During last week’s post we featured a can of these but those were the “Rojo” version. As it turns out there is also a “Barbacoa” flavor -hmmm – and these here: Verde. These are pretty damn good for a Pringle and they have a decent kick that even lingers a bit. Those Pringles fuckers are on to something.

Another new item that I found in the store was this.

And there was no fucking way I wasn’t going to try that. It’s an almond dip, think hummus but a little looser and definitely a sauce. It’s also got some spice and a little lemon and it’s goddamn delightful. “Bitchin” even. I used some pita chips as a scoop. Damn delicious.

Try to find some if you’re curious about these things. 

Alright back to today. Essentially today we are going to be cooking pork 3 ways. In addition to the tonkatsu I’m also whipping up a quick stir fry using the same recipe from our “Mushroom Stir Meat Slices” episode.

Here’s the sauce. Recipe in the link obviously.

The third way we’re going to cook the pork is by dropping a few raw slices into this here.

The worlds shittiest pho! Really, it was like unsalted chicken noodle soup with a shitload of star anise.

I have no idea what the actual fuck they were thinking when they packaged that “as is” for sale at the store.

This actually was the inspiration for the whole meal today.  We had this on hand and I was thinking of what else to serve alongside and boy was THAT a good decision because if this was all we had we’d about goddamn starve to death.

Anyway cut a few slices of the raw pork for the pho and put a few more in the stir fry sauce.

Time to heat up our shitty pho and get busy.

Yeesh!

Well, it does have extra noodles.

Set up the dredge station for the tonkatsu. Flour, then egg, then panko. Rice flour would work here too instead of all purpose. 

Now get to work!

Flour, then shake off the excess. Egg, then panko. If this looks a lot like schnitzel or the chicken for chicken parmesan you are exactly fucking right. If you added parm to the panko all you would need would be a red sauce.

Get a skillet large enough to hold a couple of the cutlets, heat it up over a medium flame, pour in about 1/2 inch of oil and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side.

You’re looking for exactly this.

Oh, that’s real nice. I can eat the fuck out of that.

When the pho gets simmering drop in the slices of pork.

Get some oil in another skillet and start the stir fry.

Remember, just a few minutes until cooked through.

AND while all of this is going on we’ve also been making a pot of rice.

That’s some quality multi-tasking.

Fuck it let’s get plating already. Here’s the whole goddamn shebang.

You know what? We can ignore the pho now.

Get me a look at that pork.

Now see? I can get after that shit.

Bring it in closer.

Oh SHIT yes. We’ve already discussed the stir fry pork so you know it’s credentials. The tonkatsu? That is fucking perfect. Light, crispy. Super crispy in fact. It’s super tender and basically encourages you to toss away your fork and just eat it with your hands. The sauce has a nice balance of salty and sweet with a little smokiness from the barbecue sauce.

This was an excellent meal and despite the appearance of chaos it was really simple to do.

Shit man, during football season I’m gonna make me a big plate of just the tonkatsu and sauce and sit in front of the TV eating like a goddamn savage. This is a keeper for sure.

This week’s “Fun” holidays courtesy of “A Bit of Good News”: June 29 is International Day of the Tropics, International Fisherman Day, International Mud Day, National Almond Buttercrunch Day, National Camera Day and National Waffle Iron Day.

Wasn’t sure at first what the fuck almond buttercrunch was exactly but further research says it’s like Almond Roca.

Fuck me! I love that shit. I’m gonna check the store for some.

We’re grinding through the real summer doldrums now folks.

I’ll try and keep you distracted here for a couple of more months.

We can do this.

Thanks for stopping by everyone.

Be well and see you next week.