Katsu karē is a Japanese curry variation made with a combination of tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork or chicken cutlet) and curry sauce. The dish is sometimes served with just the curry sauce, and sometimes with the full curry – including meat and vegetables.
On the other hand, it is almost always served with rice or over rice. In the region of Kansai, beef cutlet is typically used instead of chicken or pork.
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The breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet tonkatsu is a Japanese dish with a very recent history. It first appeared at the end of the 19th century as a type of yoshoku — the Western-influenced Japanese dishes — but with time, tonkatsu has become increasingly Japanized, widely available to the masses and thus more popular.
Tonkatsu is a dish in itself or, if married with other ingredients, it can turn into many of its almost endless variations; made like a sandwich, paired with ramen or rice, poured over with a thick miso sauce as done in Nagoya, or served with curry to make katsu karē.
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Chicken katsu is a traditional dish and a type of katsu. It's made by dredging tender chicken breast in flour, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs, then frying the cutlets in hot oil until they become golden and crunchy. Although chicken breast is the most popular choice, other parts of the bird can be used as well.
The cutlet is traditionally served cut into smaller pieces since it's eaten with chopsticks. The dish is served with steamed white rice and katsu sauce, a tangy, sweet, and thick Worcestershire-like concoction made from apple purée.
MOST ICONIC Tori katsu
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Gyukatsu is a deep-fried beef cutlet that is traditionally made with wagyu beef. The cutlet is seasoned and coated in breadcrumbs before it is shortly fried until crispy. It is then served sliced into bite-size pieces. In restaurants, gyukatsu is usually accompanied by various sides that may include miso soup, sliced cabbage or other vegetables, pickled vegetables, dipping sauces, wasabi, barley rice, or tororo—grated yams.
Optionally, a portable grill will be provided if a guest wants to additionally grill each piece of gyukatsu because most restaurants prepare the meat raw to medium rare.
MOST ICONIC Gyukatsu
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Menchi katsu is a traditional dish and a type of katsu. This ground meat cutlet is made with a combination of ground beef, ground pork, onions, panko breadcrumbs, oil, eggs, milk, black pepper, and nutmeg. Once shaped, the patties are dredged in flour, beaten eggs, and panko breadcrumbs, then fried in hot oil until golden and crispy.
The dish is usually served with white rice, miso soup, and the thick and tangy katsu sauce on the side. Menchi katsu originated in Tokyo and it dates back to the Meiji Era. Nowadays, some of the best menchi katsus can be found at butcher shops, where they use the freshest meat to form the cutlets.
MOST ICONIC Menchi katsu
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