🥘 Ingredients
- 500 g pork and beef mince mix
- 1 small yellow onion, finely grated and squeezed dry
- 2 large eggs, divided
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs, plus 1 1/2 cups for coating
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup neutral cooking oil, for shallow-frying
- 8 thick slices shokupan or soft white sandwich bread
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
- 1 small carrot, cut into fine matchsticks
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup pickled jalapeños, drained and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons pickled jalapeño brine
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely grated apple
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
⚠️ Allergen Information
- Wheat/gluten
- Egg
- Milk
- Soy
- Sesame
👨🍳 Instructions
- Combine the cabbage and carrot with 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Massage briefly until slightly softened, then set aside to remain crisp.
- Make the jalapeño tonkatsu sauce by stirring together the chopped pickled jalapeños, jalapeño brine, ketchup, soy sauce, honey, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, grated apple, and ginger. Set aside so the flavors can meld.
- Place the mince, grated onion, one egg, 1/3 cup panko, milk, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Mix with your hands just until cohesive; overmixing can make the patties dense.
- Divide the mixture into four portions. Shape each into a thin rectangular patty slightly smaller than a bread slice and about 1.5 cm thick. Press a shallow indentation into the center of each patty to encourage even cooking.
- Place the flour in a shallow dish. Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water in a second dish, and place 1 1/2 cups panko in a third. Coat each patty first in flour, then egg, and finally panko, pressing gently so the crumbs adhere.
- Heat the neutral oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When a breadcrumb sizzles immediately, add the patties without crowding the pan. Shallow-fry for 3 to 4 minutes per side until deeply golden and the centers reach 71°C or 160°F. Cook in two batches if necessary, then drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
- While the patties cook, lightly butter the bread and toast it in a clean skillet, butter-side down, for 1 to 2 minutes until golden but still soft.
- Spread jalapeño tonkatsu sauce over the untoasted sides of all bread slices. Layer four slices with drained cabbage slaw and a hot menchi-katsu patty, then add a little more sauce and close the sandwiches.
- Press each sandwich gently, trim the crusts if desired, and cut diagonally or into three traditional katsu-sando fingers. Serve immediately with extra jalapeño sauce.
📖 Backstory
The Menchi Katsu You Later Jalapeño Sando came to me during a rainstorm in Kyoto, although technically I was standing beneath a malfunctioning garden sprinkler in suburban Ohio. With my eyes closed and a convenience-store umbrella trembling overhead, I could practically hear the distant sizzle of yoshoku history. Then a jalapeño rolled down the driveway and stopped at my feet. I took this as a culinary summons, because truly great cooks recognize destiny even when it arrives loose from a neighbor’s grocery bag.
Back in the kitchen, I combined pork and beef mince with finely grated onion, eggs, milk, and panko, handling the mixture with the solemnity of a sculptor commissioned to carve a national monument. Each patty was crumbed and fried until its crust made the kind of crunch usually reserved for autumn leaves in expensive films. But ordinary tonkatsu sauce seemed too predictable, so I introduced pickled jalapeños and fruit—a tangy, sweet, lightly fiery partnership that several imaginary food historians have since described as “inevitable.”
The finished sandwich was so structurally magnificent that I briefly considered applying for a building permit. Juicy menchi katsu sat between soft slices of bread, lacquered with that audacious jalapeño-fruit tonkatsu sauce, every bite balancing richness, crunch, sweetness, and a polite little kick. I named it the Menchi Katsu You Later Jalapeño Sando because “goodbye” felt inadequate, and because after serving it, I fully expected all my guests to abandon their previous sandwich loyalties forever.