Pork katsu don ($7.80+)!
Outram Park hawker Japanese pork katsu don: panko pork cutlet simmered with egg and onion over rice, scallion, miso soup on the side. $7.80+.
Lunch at an Outram Park hawker Japanese stall: pork katsu don, $7.80+. π
What was in the bowl:
- Pork katsu don: panko pork cutlet simmered in the egg-and-onion dashi, the beaten egg poured over and barely set, all over rice
- Sliced onion softened through the egg
- Scallion scattered on top, the runny egg yolk breaking across the cutlet
- Miso soup on the side, in the blue-and-white bowl
Katsu don (γ«γδΈΌ) is the original pork version of the dish: a panko-crusted pork cutlet (tonkatsu) sliced and laid over onions simmering in dashi, soy and mirin, then drowned in beaten egg cooked just until it sets. The crust soaks the sweet-savoury broth at its base while the top stays with a little bite, and the loose egg glues everything to the rice. It is comfort food engineered: crisp-turned-tender pork, sweet onion, custardy egg, all in one bowl.
The egg is the craft: this bowl ran the egg a touch looser than fully set, the yolk still breaking across the cutlet, which is the more indulgent end of the spectrum. Some prefer it firmer; both are valid, and the looser version eats richer.
Pork vs chicken katsu don: the pork is the heavier, more traditional cut, fattier and more savoury; the chicken version is lighter. For a proper katsu don, pork is the original.
At $7.80+ for a pork katsu don with miso soup at a hawker Japanese stall, this is fair value, a few dollars under the mall tonkatsu houses.
Overall: 4 / 5. πππΌ The loose egg over the panko pork was the comfort standout. Standard execution done well, would re-order.
