Menchi Katsu (Tonkatsu with minced pork)

Menchi Katsu, Sashimi from Atariya (salmon, medium fatty tuna, squid), 
rice, miso soup with winter cabbage and enoki mushroom

We got a male guest of Mr. Husband.

According to my observations,

MEN LOVE DEEP FRY DISHES.

To feed two hungry boys, I made Menchi Katsu, a type of dish in between tonkatsu and croquette.

Instead for using loin pork piece, we make Menchi Katsu with minced pork.

Ingredients

<Menchi Katsu dough>

• 300g of minced pork
• 2/3 cup of bread crumb to combine minced pork 
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 medium sized egg 
• 1/2 cube of chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder (or nutmeg)
• 1/2 large round onion
• 1-2 teaspoon of vegetable oil to fry onion and to grease hands

<Dressing Menchi Katsu pieces with bread crumb and deep frying them>

• 2 cups of bread crumb for dressing each piece 
• 2/3 cup of plain flour to dust pieces
• 1 egg
• 2 cups of vegetable oil for deepfrying

Directions

1. Put 2/3 cup of bread crumb and chicken stock in a large bowl. Pour milk over these two ingredients to absorb and let them get soft and easy to combine with other ingredients  

2.Chop onion into pieces and fry in a pan with 1 teaspoon of oil until getting translucent. Put the cooked onion pieces aside and allow them cool 

3. Once bread and chicken stock in a bowl get soft, add minced pork, one egg, paprika powder or nutmeg, black pepper, salt and onion pieces. Combine all ingredients and knead with a hand until they get sticky about for 2 mins

 4. Divide the meat dough roughly into 8-10 portions. Grease hands with vegetable oil and make a flat-oval shape with each piece. 
I also made some half sized portions to freeze for future bento contents (it will last for 2 weeks in freezer)

4. Beat an egg in a small bowl. Prepare 2 cups of bread crumb in a shallow tray. Place one empty near by.  

Dust both sides of each piece of Mench Katsu with flour. Put each piece into the beaten egg bowl to dress in both sides and place it in a bread crumb tray. Then dust the wet Menchi Katsu piece with bread crumb and put it aside in the tray.  For the efficiency of this process, keep one hand for the dry stuff (dressing with bread crumb) and the other for the wet (dressing with beaten egg). 

As I used both hands, I couldn't take any pictures. Sorry for that.

 5. Power 2 cups of vegetable oil in a medium sized pan and heat it up over medium temperature. Deep fry Menchi Katsu pieces for 1.5 mins in each side. 

7. Serve Menchi Katsu with shredded cabbage or lettuce topped with sauce. For entire directions, please refer the Tonkatsu Bite. 

I used remained flour to dust the pan to remove the used oil.
As usual, used oil, the absorbed oil with flour, the cloth to wipe the flour dust were disposed in a juice pack but not to the drain.

Total time to prepare: 45 mins
Total cost for 10 pieces of Mench Katsu: 3.8 pounds (3 for 300g of minced pork from a cool butcher, Ginger Pig, 0.8 for other ingredients)

The cost of 3 different sashimi portions for 3 people from Atariya: 36 pounds