Katsudon | Kitchen

I peered through into the darkened windows of souvenir shops and I spotted the light coming from a small eatery that was still open. Through the frosted glass door I saw it had only one customer, who was sitting at the counter. I opened the door with a sense of relief and went in. I craved something heavy and filling, so I ordered deep-fried pork in broth over rice. ‘Katsudon, please,’ I said.
Kitchen
Banana Yoshimoto

An incredibly amount of influence into the books I read come from recommendations. Whether it be a book that a friend mentions casually, one that has a glowing review in a local paper or the multiple of recommendations that flood through the wonder that is instagram.

This month, I’ve been drawn quite heavily into Babbling Books' Women in Translation Month. When perusing both her and others suggestions for the month I came to the realisation that I already had a number of translated books in my shelf already - I just had no idea that they were. I picked a couple off the shelves and dedicated the week to a reread for inspiration of a dish to make and my attention rarely was drawn away from Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. There are so many mouth watering dishes that are described in detail throughout the story - much of what ties into the beautifully written tale. I think for the month of August, most of my literary inspired meals will be done within the realm of Babbling Books' Women in Translation challenge.

Katsudon was the main item that wouldn’t disappear from my mind, however. The above quote from the book just installs a sense of comfort and warmth with the dish - of a hearty and filling meal that is bound to bring a sense of satisfaction to anyone, eaten late at night in a tiny, empty store. When I first moved to Melbourne, I would eat the same dish, in a particular tiny storefront buried somewhere within China Town late at night after a long shift at the restaurant I worked at. After giving up meat I hadn’t thought of it in years until my reread of Kitchen when the urge to recreate the dish would not leave my mind.

It was everything I remembered about the dish from years ago, and myself and my housemate greedily devoured it while the rain poured outside and we clustered around the tiny heater in the lounge.

*Note: So, I used soy steaks that I sourced from a local Asian grocer. Pressed tofu would also work wonderfully for this I believe. Otherwise, it can be made with pork chops of course - I would recommend using a mallet or rolling pin to gently pound the meat thin if you do choose to use this.

Katsudon
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 x meat of choice *see note
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp plain flour
1 small brown onion, finely sliced
1 cup sushi rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
3 tsp mirin
2 tsp white sugar
2 tbsp finely chopped nori
1 3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 spring onion, finely sliced

1. Mix together the corn flour and water well, so no lumps are remaining. Set into a wide bowl, and do the same for the plain flour and panic breadcrumbs. You essentially want three seperate bowls for prepping the katsu.

2. Heat your oil in a shallow frying pan on a medium head until it reaches approx. 170C. You can test by dropping a few breadcrumbs in it - if they bubble and spin the oil is ready.

3. Dip each fillet (whatever you are using) into the flour first, followed by the corn flour mix and then the breadcrumbs, ensuring that it is well covered.

4. Drop each breadcrumb covered fillet into the oil, cooking each side for approx. 2 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Remove and sit on a piece of paper town to drain the excess oil.

5. Once they’re a little cooler, slice each piece into slices that are around 1 inch wide.

6. Now is a good time to get the rice ready. Since the sushi rice off to remove the excess starch and place into a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Cook on a medium heat until ready and place to the side. It should be ready around the time as everything else to be brought together.

7. Time to prepare the sauce. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken stock, nori, sugar, mirin and soy sauce in a pan and cook until lightly simmering. It should thicken slightly.

8. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cooked the finely sliced brown onion until soft.

9. Place the slices of katsu on top of the onion in the pan - drizzling the sauce over the top, cooking it all in the pan for around 2 minutes.

10. Split the rice between two bowls and carefully divide the katsu between the two, along with the remaining sauce and onions from the pan. Scatter with the sliced spring onion and enjoy!