As we know, a donburi is a bowl of rice with different ingredients on top. In this case we are talking about a donburi whose main ingredient, besides rice, is tonkatsu, that is, breaded pork that is cooked together with onions in a sweet sauce based on sake, mirin and soy sauce.
So, to prepare the recipe for katsudon, we will first need to prepare tonkatsu, of which we have already left a recipe.
Eating the katsudon recipe has become a modern tradition among students on the day before an important exam, because the katsu part of the dish’s name sounds just like the word that means “victory.
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 30 minutes
Diners: 2 persons
Ingredients for katsudon recipe
2 pieces of tonkatsu (pork breaded with flour, egg and panko)
1/2 onion
3 eggs
2 donburi portions of Japanese rice
Some green from the stem of a spring onion (for decoration)
For the sauce:
1/2 cup dashi broth, or water if we don’t have the broth
1 tablespoon of sake
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Preparation of the katsudon recipe
To start with the katusdon recipe, we’ll prepare the rice. If we have a rice cooker or suihanki, follow the instructions on the machine in question. If not, cook the rice following the instructions for cooking Japanese white rice. That is, wash the rice in cold water several times, usually 3 to 4 times, changing the water each time and stirring well by hand, until the water is clear. Drain. Then put the rice in a pan and cover with water, so that when you put your fingers horizontally over the rice the water covers the entire palm. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes. Cover the saucepan and put it on a medium heat for another 10 minutes. When it boils, lower the heat to the minimum and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, remove from the heat and leave to rest for another 10 minutes. When it is ready, put the rice in the doughnut bowl.
Next, peel the onion, cut it into thin slices and cut each one in half or in four parts (depending on the size of the onion).
Beat the eggs and set aside.
Prepare the tonkatsu and after draining the oil, cut the meat into strips about one finger wide. It is important not to cut the meat completely, so that it stays together at all times despite being cut.
Then mix all the ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce. Stir well to get all the ingredients mixed together.
Put half of the liquid we have prepared in an oyako-nabe (special pan for preparing donburi) or, if we do not have it, in a small, shallow pan. Bring to a boil.
When it comes to the boil, lower the heat and add half of the onion that we have cut and prepared. Leave to cook for a few minutes over a low heat.
When the onion starts to be tender, add the meat, placing it in the centre of the pan over the onion mixed with the sauce. It is important not to have cut the meat completely, so that when you add it to the pan the strips do not come off.
Add half of the beaten egg, starting at one end of the pan, and ending in the centre, over the piece of meat and cover. With the frying pan covered, leave to cook for about thirty seconds while moving the frying pan in a circular motion.
Uncover, remove from the heat and place the entire contents of the pan on top of the rice served in the doughnut bowl. Be careful to keep the meat, onion and egg in place. At this point we can finish cutting the strips of battered meat.
Repeat the whole process, to prepare the second donburi.
Decorate with some of the green from the spring onion stem and serve very hot.
Practical information
It is important not to beat the eggs too much, so that when they are added to the frying pan the result is appropriate.
If we like a spicy touch, add shichimi to taste on top.