When I came to visit the UK for the first time (about eleven years ago), I fell in L.O.V.E with the canteen styled noodle joint called Wagamamas. There are so many tasty simple dishes with my favourite being the Chicken Katsu Curry. Delicately fried panko crusted chicken breast served with sticky rice and a mildly spiced curry sauce.
What is not to love about the dish? Bread a piece of meat, fry it, serve it with a sauce and a starch. Presto- you've got one of the many varations on a theme of fried meat and gravy. AKA: a southern boy's wet dream!
Now add pork to the southern boys wet dream and it's XXXtra dirty! I love all things pork and a pork katsu is is quite popular in Japan. So i thought I'd take a stab at it. I'm mad about brining pork and poultry, so I brined the pork loins in a spicy brine to impart flavour and keep moisture in them. No one likes dried out pork.
Curry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era, when India was a British colony. When the dish was introduced to Japan, The emperor of Japan ordered the chefs to recreate it and make it their own. And adopt it they did, Curry Roux can be purchased in supermarkets. It's an easy way to get a great sauce, but it really lacks the depth of this sauce.
This curry sauce is quite a fruity affair, it goes really well with the pork katsu, sort of a nod to pork with apples. The sauce is super easy even a Japanese child could make it, so there is no excuse for you not to.
Pork Katso Curry
Pork Brine
50g salt
25g sugar
3 cloves garlic, smashed
small thumb ginger
1 red chile
5 peppercorns
Pork Katsu
4 pork loin steaks
100g plain flour
3 eggs, beaten
200g panko breadcrumbs
oil for frying
Curry Sauce
25g butter
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 cooking apple cored, peeled and chopped,
2 bananas peeled and chopped
2 tbs curry powder
3 tbs plain flour
750 ml chicken or vegetable stock
125 ml apple juice
2 tbs honey
For the brine:
Combine all the ingredients for the brine in a sauce pan with 500ml water. Bring to the simmer then remove from the heat and cool. To brine the pork, place the pork in a non-reactivemetal pan or sealable freezer bag. Add the brine solution and top up with cold water to submerge the pork. Brine for at least 24 and up to 48 hours.
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| Pork in the chili brine | Apple, Onion and Banana Saute | Copious amount of curry |
For the curry sauce:
Heat a large pan over medium heat and melt the butter till foaming. Saute the garlic and onions till translucent. Add the apples and ginger and cook until they begin to soften. Add the bananas, continue to cook until the bananas fall apart. Add the curry powder and flour, continue to cook untill fragrant. Add the stock, apple juice and honey. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes then with an immersion blender process the sauce till it is smooth. Check for seasoning and salt and pepper as nessasary. Keep warm
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| Whizzing into submission | First came the flour..... | Then came the eggs..... |
For the Pork Katsu:
Remove the pork from the brine and discard. Pound out the loins with a meat tenderiser till they are about 1/2 inch thick. Place the remaining flour, beaten eggs and panko crumbs into three separate shallow bowls. Coat the loins in plain flour and shake off any excess. Then dip the loins into the beaten egg letting any excess drip back into the bowl, then coat evenly with the breadcrumbs. You can hold the coated loins on a baking paper lined tray.
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| Then came the panko... | Katsu in the end! |
Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok. Add the loin to the oil and fry until crispy. This should take about three minutes. Carefully turn the loin over and cook the other side. This should take another three minutes. Remove the loin from the oil and place on a cooling rack over a baking tray to catch any oil. Place into a low oven while you cook the remaining loins.
Serve with rice and copious amount of the fruity curry sauce.
Go on now springpad it now! 
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