When I’m at home though, I’m all about simple, nourishing meals that titillate the tastebuds without much effort in the kitchen. This explains why I’m such a sucker for donburi. What’s a donburi you ask? Literally, a donburi is a large ceramic bowl, the kind of vessel you might serve a bowl of noodle soup in. But it’s also the name of a rice dish that’s served in its eponymous tableware. If you imagine a meat dish, a vegetable stir-fry and an omelette colliding over a bowl of rice into a delicious mess, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what most donburis are all about.
Although they can be made with any meat, seafood or vegetable, one of my favorites is katsudon. The “katsu” is short for tonkatsu and “don” (pronounced like “don’t” without the “t”) is an abbreviation for donburi. It’s a popular lunchtime meal in Japan and the best part is that it can be made with leftover tonkatsu from the night before.
The panko coating on the pork cutlets absorb the sweet and savory sauce while sautéed onions add big flavor to the dish. The egg not only binds everything together, it also absorbs the flavors in the sauce before percolating them into the rice below. Eaten together, katsudon is luscious, meaty, savory and sweet and has the remarkable ability to satisfy a handful of cravings in one bite.
Like any comfort food, I don’t stray too far from the standard preparation but I do employ a few small tricks to make the standard katsudon even better. The first thing is to add a bit of potato starch to the sauce, it lends a barely perceptible viscosity that helps the sauce cling to the tonkatsu and rice rather than running straight to the bottom of the bowl. The second thing is to flip the tonkatsu after you add the sauce. This ensures the tonkatsu is well seasoned both top and bottom. Lastly, I usually cook the egg until it’s just a bit less done than I want it to be as it will continue to cook as you assemble the rice bowl and carry it to the table.
Units
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ⅓ cup dashi (or chicken stock)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake
- ¼ teaspoon potato starch
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 90 grams onion (thinly sliced about 1/2 small )
- 380 grams Tonkatsu (1 very thick cutlet or 2 thinner ones)
- 1 scallion (chopped, for garnish)
- 2 bowls cooked short-grain rice
Instructions
- Break the eggs into a bowl and mix until the yolks are broken, but there are still separate areas of white and yolk.
- Add the dashi, sugar, soy sauce sake and potato starch to a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the oil and onions to a non-stick frying pan over medium high heat and saute the onions until soft and just starting to brown.
- Push the onions to the edge of the pan and add the tonkatsu in the center.
- Pour the sauce around the cutlet and cover for 1 minute to let the sauce thicken and the katsu reheat.
- Remove the lid and flip the katsu over using a spatula. This ensures the katsu is well seasoned on both the top and bottom.
- Pour the egg all over and around the katsu and sprinkle on the green onions. Cover and steam until the egg is just a little less cooked than you want. Personally I like my egg creamy, so I let it steam until the egg is set on the bottom but still a little runny on top. By the time it gets to the table, the residual heat cooks it to a creamy custard texture.
- Put the hot rice into bowls and cover with the tonkatsu and egg mixture, drizzling any remaining sauce on top.
Marc Matsumoto says
You can’t get much practice if you don’t try:-)
Gary Rumain says
I know. The best I can do is bacon and eggs. Been doing it for a while but also been meaning to look up what sort of cheese or veggies to add to the omelet to give it a bit of extra zing. I don’t suppose you have any suggestions or recipes I can look at. It has to be at the beginner level, though. I figure if I can master that, I could progress to more complicated things.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Gary, this is one of my favorite omelettes, and it’s easy to do because it doesn’t involve stuffing a thin layer of egg with something: https://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/masala-omelette/ As for cheeses, any melting cheese works good, personally I love gruyere or comte in an omelette, but if you prefer something milder, cheddar or fontina would work.
Gary Rumain says
Thanks. I wasn’t sure what kind of cheese would work. But I’ll pick up some cheddar the next time I go shopping and try it. I was thinking of adding something like shallots to the omelet but I’d been meaning to look up Spanish omelet or Western omelet. Basically, something simple that a beginner like me couldn’t mess up too badly.
Gary Rumain says
I’ve been meaning to tell you, I found a very nice local smoked cheddar and am using it in my omelets with great success. Thank you for the advice, Marc.
Marc Matsumoto says
Sounds good, glad to hear you’re found something that works for you!
Anissa says
What brand of sake would you recommend I use for this recipe?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Anissa, there are literally thousands of brands of sake, and many of them will work just fine. My policy for alcohol used for cooking is that it doesn’t have to be expensive since most of the finer nuances of expensive sake/wine/etc will evaporate during cooking, but you never want to use something you wouldn’t drink (i.e. with off tastes, or “cooking” sake that has salt added to it).
Jojo.Drl says
Hi Marc ^^ I was wondering if you perhaps have a reccomended recepie to go along with the cutlet bowl
Jojo.Drl says
Hi Marc ^^ I was wondering if you perhaps have a reccomended recepie to go along with the cutlet bowl?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jojo, Katsudon is usually a 1 bowl meal as it has veggies, meat, eggs and starch all in the same bowl. The only thing it’s usually served with is miso soup and pickles.
Yes says
How many does it serve?
Marc Matsumoto says
This makes enough for 2 bowls.
Thea Maceda says
Thank you for the recipe! I haven’t made Katsudon in a long time. I cooked it for my husband tonight and he loved it
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Thea, I’m glad to hear he enjoyed it! I have lots of other donburi (rice bowl) recipes on here, so I hope you give them a try!