Pork Tonkatsu with Ponzu Cherry Compote

 

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Tonkatsu is one of the most beloved “western style” Japanese foods in Japan. A pork cutlet is dredged in flour, egg, panko and then fried. “Ton” is Japanese for pork, and “katsu” is derived from the word for cutlet. The best thing about tonkatsu is that it’s super easy to make.

The highlight of this dish is the ponzu flavored cherry compote. Ponzu (ポン酢?) is a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is tart, with a thin, watery consistency and a dark brown color. Ponzushōyu or ponzu jōyu (ポン酢醤油) is ponzu sauce with soy sauce (shōyu) added, and the mixed product is widely referred to as simply ponzu.The element pon arrived in the Japanese language from the English word punch. Su (酢) is Japanese for vinegar, and hence the name literally means vinegar punch.

To make the dish even more Asian in flavor, mizuna would have been used in the salad.
Mizuna (ミズナ（水菜）which loosely translated into English as  “water greens” is also known as , shui cai, kyona, Japanese mustard, potherb mustard, Japanese greens, California peppergrass, or spider mustard is a cultivatedvariety of Brassica rapa nipposinica. The name is also used for Brassica juncea var. japonica. The taste of mizuna has been described as a “piquant, mild peppery flavor…slightly spicy, but less so than arugula. A vigorous grower producing numerous stalks bearing dark green, deeply cut and fringed leaves. They have a fresh, crisp taste and can be used on their own or cooked with meat. I Japanese cuisine, you will find them pickled. Highly resistant to cold and grown extensively during the winter months in Japan.

This dish is easy to make and takes less than thirty minutes to complete, from start to finish. The finish plate for each serving is a pork cutlet topped laying on a bed of dressed arugula and  with a cherry compote and a sprinkling of lemon zest.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh  dark cherries*
2 cloves garlic
1  package of fresh argula
4 pork cutlets
2 Tablespoons ponzu sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt, to taste
Ground Black pepper, to taste
1 Teaspoons mustard powder
1 cup  Japanese panko bread crumbs
1 egg
Zest of 1 lemon

Directions:
Wash produce. Roughly chop cherries, discarding pits. Peel and mince garlic. Place the pork between to sheets of plastic wrap; using a meat mallet, rolling pin or small heavy pan, pound to about an  ½ inch thickness. Remove pork from the plastic and  pat dry with a paper towel.

Prepare Ingredients:

 

To make the cherry ponzu compote: In a small bowl, combine the honey and ponzu sauce. Add  the cherries and stir to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.

 

To bread the pork: In a large shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. In a second large shallow bowl, whisk together the egg with mustard powder. In a third large shallow bowl, add panko bread crumbs. Season pork on both sides with salt and pepper. Add to flour, turn to coat, then shake off excess. Add to egg, turn to coat, then allow excess to drip off. Add to panko bread crumbs, pressing to adhere.

Bread Pork:

 

 

 

To cook the tonkatsu: Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add pork and cook until browned on outside, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Cook Pork Tonkatsu:

 

While pork cooks, in a large bowl, combine  garlic, and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Add the arugula and toss to coat.

 

To serve, divide the  pork tonkatsu and salad evenly between plates. Spoon the ponzu cherry compote over pork; garnish with the lemon zest  and serve.

Enjoy!

Cook’s Notes:
If fresh cherries are not available, frozen dark cherries can be used in this recipe. Just be sure to thaw and drain any excess water before using.

Canned cherries can also be used, just omit the honey, if the cherries are packed in a heavy syrup or glaze

TODAY.com Parenting Team FC Contributor

Crispy Potato, Duck and Chorizo Tacos

Crispy potato and chorizo are a classic taco combination—and I added just one more ingredient- duck breast, that elevated this taco to the next level. The ideal potato and chorizo taco should be deeply browned and flavorful, each crisp cube of potato coated in a thin layer of bright red fat packed with spicy, meaty flavor. The chorizo itself should have a range of textures from tender and moist to crisp. It’s a very straight-forward process to get there, but it does take a bit of time.

To get the perfectly crispy cooked potatoes, par-cook your potatoes in vinegar-spiked water. This technique will help the potatoes in achieving that  extra crispness when subsequently fried in hot fat in a cast iron skillet.

For the best results, use fresh chorizo. In cooking chorizo, just when you think it is past point of being done, cook the meat just a little bit longer, browning it to a deep dark almost black color, but not brunt. The chorizo will be  crisper, better browned,  and much more tastier in the end.

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Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Kosher salt, to taste
1 Tablespoon white vinegar

One 8-ounce D’Artagnan Rohan Duck Breast in Southwest-Style Marinade (click here for the resource)

6 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo
12 to 16 warm soft corn tortillas, for serving
cojita or goat cheese, for serving
1 white onion, minced, for serving
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
Homemade or store-bought salsa verde, for serving
2 limes cut into 8 wedges each, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

For the Potatoes:
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Add vinegar and 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until potatoes are just cooked through, about 5 minutes after coming to a boil. Drain potatoes and let rest over sink until mostly dry.

Heat 4 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Add potatoes, shake to distribute around the pan, and cook, tossing and stirring occasionally until very crisp and golden brown on all sides, about 15 minutes.

For the Duck Breast:
With a knife, score the skin of the duck breast in a cross-hatch pattern, making the squares as small as possible without cutting into the meat. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Place in a hot skillet skin side down and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 8 minutes, while continuously draining off the rendered fat.

Flip over and cook for 4 minutes on the meat side. On a heated grill, finish cooking on the meat side for 4 minutes.

Cover the duck breast with foil to keep warm  and allow to rest rest for 10 minutes, then slice it very thinly across the grain. Cover again and set aside.

Drain fat from pan.

For the Chorizo:
Heat remaining oil in a medium non-stick or cast iron skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add chorizo and cook, stirring, until heated through. Continue cooking, stirring and tossing frequently, until all the liquid has evaporated, some fat breaks out, the chorizo starts sizzling, and eventually is quite dry and well-browned, about 15 minutes.

Transfer cooked  duck and chorizo to pan with potatoes. Toss to combine and season to taste with salt.

For the Tortillas:
Warm the tortillas with a little heat to make them soft and pliable.  Place the tortillas in a dry (no oil) stainless steel skillet over medium heat and cook them for about 30 seconds on each side.

Alternatively, you can also do away with the skillet and char the tortillas directly over the gas flames for a few seconds using tongs. These stove-top methods work best when the tortillas are very fresh.

Serve the meat and potato mixture immediately with tortillas, onions, cilantro, salsa, and limes on the side.

TODAY.com Parenting Team FC Contributor