Katsu Sando (Japanese Pork Chop Sandwich)

My hubby loves sandwiches...ALL kinds of sandwiches! However, I rarely make them at home because it's so much easier to just go out and buy them! Since Western style sandwiches are not popular here (the common ones are tosta mista and francesinha), I came up with an idea for "Sandwich of the Month". The first one of the series is Katsu Sando (given the ingredients I have in the fridge during social distancing).

A typical Katsu Sando is made of bread and tonkatsu (deep-fried pork). As a big fan of baking instead of deep-frying, I was stoked when I found this awesome recipe from Justonecookbook which requires NO DEEP-FRYING at all! I adjusted the recipe a little bit according to my ingredients on hand, and here it is.

Katsu sando with baked pork chop

Use a thicker pork chop (at least half inch thick) to make the sandwich more authentic. Increase the baking time to 20 minutes or more depending on the thickness. Don't be afraid to put on more Tonkatsu sauce if you like.

Ingredients：

*makes one sandwich*

1/2 cup panko

1 tbsp olive oil

1 boneless pork chop

a pinch of salt and ground black pepper

1 tbsp all purpose flour

1 egg (beaten with a bit of oil)

1-2 cabbage leaves (shredded)

2 slices white sandwich bread

1 tsp butter

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp Tonkatsu sauce

Katsu sando with baked pork chop

Steps：

1. Toast panko and oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat until golden brown. Stir occasionally to get an even colour. Transfer to a plate, let cool and set aside.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 200 ºC.

3. Pound the pork with a meat pounder or the back of a knife. If using a knife, do it in a crisscross pattern on both sides.

4. If the pork has fat and connective tissue on the edge, trim it and make a couple of slits, so it won't curl up when baking.

5. Season the pork with salt and pepper.

6. Dredge the pork in flour and remove excess. Dip it into the egg, then dredge it in panko. Press the panko onto the pork to make sure it's well coated.

7. Put the pork onto a wire rack. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until it's cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside.

8. Spread butter on both bread slices. Grill until slightly brown in colour.

9. Spread Dijon mustard on one slice. Spread Tonkatsu Sauce on the other slice.

10. Place a layer of cabbage on the Dijon mustard side. Then drizzle a bit of Tonkatsu on top.

11. Place the baked pork over the cabbage. Top with the other slice of bread.

12. Cut the sandwich in half. Then serve.