Eggplant Katsu Sando with Tonkatsu Sauce
This is my attempt at recreating an eggplant katsu sando. It worked out pretty good, and either frying or air frying both worked pretty well. I did not make the shokupan (a soft milk bread) so I used a white loaf block from the bakery.
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant (medium size) Or 4-5 Japanese eggplants
- neutral oil (I used rice bran) for frying
- ½ cup plain flour
- 1½ tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup room temperature water plus extra if necessary
- 2 cups panko crumbs
Tonkatsu sauce
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
For serving
- 1 Bakers Delight white block loaf
- Kewpie mayonnaise
- white rice if you prefer
- butter to spread on your bread
- Japanese curry
- 1 cup finely sliced cabbage or you could use lettuce if you prefer
Instructions
- Cut the eggplant into slices about 1 - 1.5 cm thick. If you are using the Japanese eggplants, you could slice on an angle to make the slices a bit bigger.
- To make the tonkatsu sauce, mix all the ingredient together. You can store extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.
- Make the batter by mixing all the ingredients together until smooth. If it is too thick, add a little extra water 1-2 tbsp at a time. The consistency should be like a thick pancake batter.
- Put the the breadcrumbs in another shallow dish. Dunk your eggplant in the batter until well coated, and then coat in the breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the eggplant is well coated in breadcrumbs.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan or your wok. It should be about 180°C - if you drop a few crumbs into the oil, it should immediately sizzle. Place a few into the oil (do not overload the oil as it will cool the oil down too quickly) for about 2-3 minutes and then flip over and cook a similar time on the other side.
- Remove from the oil and place on a rack over a tray to cool (or you could use kitchen paper, but this way keeps them crisper longer I think!). Repeat until all the eggplant is done.
If you are using an airfryer
- Place your crumbed eggplant in the holder of your airfryer and spray with oil. Cook at 200°C for 15- 20 minutes, turning over half way through until cooked.
- To serve, thickly slice your bread and remove the crusts (for authenticity, but you don't have to!). Spread both slices with butter. Place some of the cabbage on one piece of bread. I then squirt some mayonnaise on top of the cabbage, before placing my eggplant on top. I then top the tonkatsu sauce on top before placing the other slice on top. Press down on the sando gently before cutting in half. Serve!
