I love, love, LOVE being inspired to try new dishes at home after experiencing them out in the wild at a restaurant. We recently went to one of my favorites – Parachute in Chicago – and ordered the pork tonkatsu (traditionally a Japanese dish), which just blew me away. It was a perfectly crisp and tender fried pork cutlet with a rich, savory sauce. Yes, please.

My mind immediately started wandering with what flavors I could play with at home to make my own version. Luckily I still had some spices from Bloom Organics that I hadn’t tried out yet – turmeric and ginger – which I thought would give this style of fried pork a lovely fresh ZING! And whaddya know, I was right. Love it when that happens!

I also love that this can be prepped, cooked and on the table in about 15 minutes which is key for a weeknight dinner when I’m low on time.

And last, since I’ve partnered with Bloom Organics, they’ve given me a code to share with my readers to get 10% off their purchase through 9/30/2019 – use code GMMSave10 at checkout. I really can’t say enough good things about these herbs and spices. The freshness and flavor they have brought to my recipes has been fantastic and I can’t wait to keep using ’em to bring some bold notes to even more recipes. Definitely a game-changer.

I hope you give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Servings: 2
Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients
2 boneless pork loin chops
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 cup canola oil

Ingredients for Tonkatsu Sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce

First add the canola oil to a cast iron skillet and heat to 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating set up your dredging station. Set up three wide, shallow bowls. In the first add the flour, turmeric, ginger and pepper; mix together well. In the second bowl crack an egg and whisk. Last, in the third bowl add the panko bread crumbs.

Next pound out the pork by placing each piece in between saran wrap and pound away with a meat tenderizer until the pork is about 1/3 of an inch thick. Salt each side of the pork.

Now the fun part. Dip each piece of pork into the flour and shake off any excess. Then dip them into the egg, then into the panko breadcrumbs, ensuring that the pork is well coated.

Place each pork loin into the oil slowly. Cook on one side for 5 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 5 minutes or until perfectly golden. Remove from the oil and place on a paper-towel lined plate.

Before serving, quickly whip up the sauce, which is just a matter of mixing all of the ingredients for the sauce together well.

I served this with sides of fluffy white rice and steamed broccoli, and topped with the tonkatsu sauce, which was quite tasty all together! I’m excited to continue to try different spices and sauces with this dish as it’s a great canvas to start with and layer flavors onto.

I hope you enjoy! Cheers!