Pork Tonkatsu

My husband's and my mother were in town for my daughter's birthday party.   I still made them guinea pigs with an untested recipe.  Thankfully it turned out alright;).  I used the applesauce, as I knew the kids would eat it and apple butter might got to waste.  It was a bit unusual and you really needed to go light on the sauce, as it was very intense, but still a great dish.  My husband particularly liked it.  We had it with steamed bok choy, rice, the rest of the kimchi (just to clean up) and a salad with miso dressing.  It came together pretty quick too.  The most labor intensive part was the breading and frying.  (which made this dinner easy for me as I let the fry daddy do it;)


Pork Tonkatsu

1/4 Cup ketchup
1/4 Cup apple butter or applesauce
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbl low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
2 egg whites beaten
1 Cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Two 8-ounce pork tenderloins cut into 2-inch pieces and pounded 1/2 inch thick (I used a little over 1 lb of thin pork chops and other than needing more egg whites, it was fine)
Salt
1/4 Cup canola oil
Steamed rice and steamed spinach for serving

1. In a saucepan, bring the ketchup, apple butter, Worcestershire, soy,
mustard and vinegar to a simmer; transfer to 4 bowls. Cool. 
2. Put the flour, egg whites and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls.
Season the pork cutlets with salt, then dredge in the flour, tapping off
the excess. Dip the cutlets in the egg white, followed by the panko,
pressing the crumbs to help them adhere. 
3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the cutlets
and cook over moderate heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Brush
the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on the cutlets. Flip and cook until
golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the tonkatsu
to a work surface and cut into strips. Transfer to plates and serve with
rice, spinach and the dipping sauce. 

Make Ahead The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.