What kind of sauce is Japanese, with a beautiful name-Tonkatsu?

And so, tonkatsu! We will teach you how to prepare three of the most delicious recipes for this sauce. We’ll tell you whether it’s spicy or not, and then you’ll find out what it’s eaten with.

What is tonkatsu sauce?

Tonkatsu sauce gets its name from the cutlet. After all, translated it means pork cutlet. It was the breaded fried pork schnitzel that was served with the sauce, which gave the sauce its name later on.

Of course, initially the sauce was more primitive. But one day a cook mixed Worcestershire sauce with apple puree and really liked the taste. Then the rest of the ingredients were added to it, making the tonkatsu sauce what it became.

Aromatic, spicy, sweet and sour sauce, not spicy in taste. All this goes great with pork, chicken, and vegetables. They eat duck and pasta with it, and use it as sauce for shawarma and burgers.

It is also served as sauce for French fries. As you understand, tonkatsu is a universal sauce.

Classic recipe

Each chef has his own composition of tonkatsu sauce, but there is a list of main ingredients that are required. Next, you will see them in every recipe and understand what you can’t do without.

Composition:

• Tomato paste – 100 gr
• Onions – 0.5 pcs.
• Apple – 0.5 pcs.
• Garlic – 1 clove
• Soy sauce – 4 tbsp. l.;
• Worcester sauce – 4 tbsp. L.;
• Myrin – 3 tbsp. l.
• Sugar – 2 tbsp. l.
• Cayenne pepper – a pinch
• Nutmeg and cinnamon – on the tip of a knife
• Vegetable oil for frying

How to cook:

1. Peel and chop the onion, garlic and apple as desired, then fry in oil over medium heat until golden.
2. Add tomato paste and sugar with spices, fry for a couple more minutes.
3. Pour in Worcestershire, mirin and soy sauce, stirring simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
4. We punch everything with a blender, if desired, you can rub it through a sieve and the tonkatsu is ready!

Just let it cool in the refrigerator and feel free to serve it as dip sauce  for chips and snacks. Or just use it as a marinade for barbecue. Don’t add too much hot pepper; tonkatsu sauce is not spicy and the pepper is only needed for piquancy.

Simple recipe

This is of course not an original recipe, but it is prepared quickly and turns out very tasty.

We will need:

• Ketchup – 100 gr
• Applesauce – 50 gr
• Plum jam – 50 gr
• Soy sauce – 50 ml
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp.
• Granulated garlic – 0.5 tsp.
• Ground ginger – 0.5 tsp.
• Nutmeg – on the tip of a knife
• Vegetable oil – 1 tsp.

How to do:

1. Mix the spices with sunflower oil, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
2. Let it brew a little and the simple tonkatsu sauce is ready!

If you add Worcester to it, you will get almost classic tonkatsu. Excellent as a sauce for shrimp.

Homemade tonkatsu

This recipe is called homemade because of products that are almost always available in any home. With the possible exception of a couple of components.

Composition:

• Apple jam – 2 tbsp. l.
• Honey – 1 tbsp. l.
• Tomato ketchup – 4 tbsp. l.
• Fruit wine – 30 ml
• Soy sauce – 3 tbsp. l. 
• Vegetable oil – 2 tsp. 
• Apple cider vinegar – 1 tbsp. l.
• Garlic – 1 clove 
• Ginger root – 2 cm
• Mustard – 0.5 tsp. 
• Cinnamon, nutmeg – a pinch.

Step by step recipe:

1. Grate the garlic and ginger, squeeze the ginger juice into a container and add the garlic there.
2. Pour in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Let sit in the refrigerator and you’re done!

This method of cooking is convenient outdoors and goes perfectly with barbecue or grilled vegetables. You can add a little sweet chili ketchup.