Katsudon


Katsudon is a popular Japanese food, a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet,
egg, vegetables, and condiments.
The dish takes its name from the Japanese words tonkatsu and donburi
It has become a modern tradition for Japanese students to eat katsudon the night before taking a major test or school entrance exam. This is because "katsu" is a homophone of the verb 勝つ katsu, meaning "to win" or "to be victorious". It is also a famous gag of Japanese police films: many people think that suspects will speak the truth with tears when they have eaten katsudon and are asked, "Did you ever think about how your mother feels about this?" Even nowadays, the gag of "We must eat katsudon while interrogating" is popular in Japanese films.

Variations

Variations include sauce katsudon, demi katsudon or domi katsudon, shio-katsudon, shōyu-dare katsudon, and miso-katsudon. Beef and chicken can substitute for the pork. Katsukarē is a variation with curry sauce instead of the usual egg.

Preparation

A popular way of preparing the tonkatsu for the katsudon dish is to dip the cutlet in flour, followed by egg, then dipping in panko breadcrumbs, and skillet frying.

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