Saltine Cracker Pork Tonkatsu Bowls
When your roster of pantry staples no longer excites, look beyond the usual suspects. Tired of ketchup? Spice it up with sambal oelek. Are you in an acidity funk? Try rice wine vinegar. This logic motivated our Japanese tonkatsu take on good old reliable pork cutlets, served with julienned, marinated vegetables atop sushi rice. A […]
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 g) thinly julienned vegetables (mixture of zucchini, carrot, parsnip or white turnip)
- 1 cup (85 g) green cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp (10 ml) sambal oelek
- 2 cups (430 g) Calrose rice (sushi rice), rinsed and drained
- 2 1/4 cups (560 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (75 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups (120 g) saltine crackers, finely crushed (see note)
- 1 lb (450 g) boneless pork chops, each about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, cut into ¾-inch (2 cm) strips
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Hoisin sauce, to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Let marinate at room temperature until ready to serve.
When your roster of pantry staples no longer excites, look beyond the usual suspects. Tired of ketchup? Spice it up with sambal oelek. Are you in an acidity funk? Try rice wine vinegar. This logic motivated our Japanese tonkatsu take on good old reliable pork cutlets, served with julienned, marinated vegetables atop sushi rice. A few surprises lurk within this dish: the snap of raw parsnip in the slaw, the subtle heat of the vinaigrette and the sweet-meets-umami marriage of the hoisin with the crunch of the spiced, breaded pork. Another unexpected (and low-cost) element? Soda crackers, in lieu of the usual panko bread crumbs.