{"id":170149,"title":"Air Fryer Pork Tonkatsu","modified":"2026-09-13T16:39:02+02:00","plain":"Tonkatsu is a Japanese dish made with breaded, fried pork. Ton means \u201cpork,\u201d and katsu is short for the English \u201ccutlet,\u201d from the French c\u00f4telette. It’s one of the most popular dishes in Japan \u2014 easy to make and incredibly delicious. Try it and you’ll love it, especially now that you can make this crispy breaded pork in the air fryer.\n\n\n\nLike many other popular dishes in Japan (think ramen, tempura, soba, etc.), some restaurants specialize exclusively in this juicy pork cutlet. And no tonkatsu plate is complete without a mound of freshly shredded cabbage and a generous drizzle of homemade tonkatsu sauce.\n\n\n\nMy air fryer samosas for a delightful appetizer\n\n\n\nA little history…\n\n\n\nBefore tonkatsu took off as a pork dish in the early 20th century, it was mainly made with beef.\n\n\n\nWhen the recipe first appeared in the 1870s, it was already considered a yoshoku dish (that is, a Japanese dish inspired by Western cuisine). Only a few decades later, beef was replaced by pork, creating the beloved dish we enjoy today.\n\n\n\nThis little gem is my crispy pork in the air fryer.\n\n\n\nTonkatsu is said to have been inspired by the French veal cutlet \u2014 essentially a breaded veal escalope pan-fried in butter. A Tokyo restaurant called Rengatei \u7149\u74e6\u4ead (still open today!) adapted the concept to suit Japanese tastes, and in 1899, tonkatsu made its debut.\n\n\n\nTips for perfect pork tonkatsu\n\n\n\nThis step is optional, but it gives a much better result: about 10 minutes beforehand, lightly mist the panko breadcrumbs with a spray bottle. Once cooked, the panko breadcrumbs will be more compact, golden and beautiful.\n\n\n\nAnother oil-fried classic that works beautifully in the air fryer: breaded fish in the air fryer\n\n\n\nServe it with the famous tonkatsu sauce; you can find ready-made sauce in Asian grocery stores, but I’m sharing my easy homemade version here as well. It’s very simple to make.\n\n\n\nMy beef yaki udon, another iconic Japanese dish.\n\n\n\nMake several small cuts in the connective tissue (the white part) between the meat and the fat. Meat and fat have different elasticity and shrink at different rates during cooking. This will keep the tonkatsu nice and flat and prevent it from curling up.\n\n\n\nUse it to make a delicious katsudon\n\n\n\nIf you have a meat mallet, pound away! This will make the meat extra tender and help it hold its shape.\n\n\n\nAnother classic of Japanese cuisine is yaki udon.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tAir Fryer Pork Tonkatsu\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tair fryer\t\n\t\n\t\t2 Boneless pork chops or pork filletsSaltPepperBreading1 Large egg, beaten2 tablespoons Wheat flour, in a shallow dish1  shallow dish Panko breadcrumbsTonkatsu Sauce1 tablespoon Ketchup2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon Sugar\t\n\t\n\t\tPound the pork with the back of a knife or a meat mallet until lightly flattened. Season both sides with salt and pepper and trim any excess fat from the edges.Dredge the pork in the flour, pressing lightly to coat evenly, then shake off any excess.Dip into the beaten egg, coating completely and letting any excess drip off.Coat thoroughly in the panko breadcrumbs, pressing gently to adhere, then shake off any excess.Preheat the air fryer to 180\u00b0C.Arrange the pork in a single even layer and cook for 15 minutes at 180\u00b0C, flipping halfway through.Let rest for 2 minutes before slicing.For the sauce, whisk the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and sugar together in a small bowl until smooth.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tJaponaise","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}