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 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.