To celebrate today’s YoI concert livestream and movie news I made some katsudon for lunch!
I already read quite often that people said they would like to try katsudon as well but can’t eat it because they are vegetarian.
Well, duesterkitsch to the rescue, I‘m SO going to proof that you definitely CAN eat that incredibly tasty dish and it’s super easy to modify! :3
So here we go, my super tasty veggie-katsudon recipe, just for you! (Of course you can also totally make the recipe but with meat instead)
Ingredients for the katsudon (2 servings)
2 soy fillets
200ml kombu dashi
30ml (2 tablespoons) soy sauce
20ml (4 teaspoons) mirin
20g (2 teaspoons) sugar
3 eggs
2 onions
panko breadcrumbs
some flour
oil to deep-fry
steamed white rice (two bowls)
some frozen peas
scallions (to garnish)
For the kombu stock
15g of dried kombu
450ml water
The base for the sauce of the katsudon is normally dashi stock which is made with dried bonito flakes. Since we are making a vegetarian version of the dish we don’t want fish in our meal so we need something else here. The best substitute is kombu stock! Kombu is edible kelp which you can find in many asian grocery stores.
To easily make kombu stock gently clean the kombu with a damp cloth, put the kombu in a bottle with water and store it in the refrigerator for roughly 3-4 hours. Discard the kombu and your stock is ready to use! Be careful not to wash or clean the kombu too much, you want to keep the white powdery surface for a great flavor! You can store the leftover stock for up to 4 days in your fridge – or just freeze it
First things first: Turn on some fitting music – cooking is much more fun with a good soundtrack!
Now that we have the sauce base (and some good music playing) we can start with the recipe!
Start by cooking your rice. If you’re having a rice cooker it’s even easier. Rice cookers are awesome!
Chop your onions, place them in a bowl of water and put it aside. The water helps to make the onions taste less harsh but still keep enough flavor to go well with the other ingredients.
While the rice is cooking we can prepare the tonkatsu (cutlets). Instead of pork I‘m using soy fillets here. There are many vegetarian and vegan brands that sell soy fillets. If you can’t find any some firm tofu does the trick as well but soy fillets taste better + have a better texture. So I highly recommend soy fillets instead of plain tofu!
Grab 3 bowls, fill one with some flour, one with 1 beaten egg and one with the panko breadcrumbs.
Rub the soy fillet in the flour, put it into the egg and coat it in panko afterwards. Your tonkatsu is now ready for the deep-frying stage!
Put oil in a pan. You’ll need quite a lot to properly deep-fry it.
To see if the oil has the perfect temperature put the end of a wooden chopstick in the oil. If tiny bubbles appear around it, the heat is good!
Put in your fillets and deep-fry until they are golden brown. Place them on a cooling rack afterwards.
Time for the sauce! Combine kombu stock, sugar, mirin and the soy sauce.
Heat up that mixture in a small pan. Add the onions and simmer until tender on medium heat. Change to high heat and if it’s boiling put in some frozen peas.
Your rice is hopefully ready by now because we‘re nearly finished!
Chop your cutlets in stripes and place them in the sauce.
Beat two eggs really lightly and pour them directly over the cutlets.
Place a lid on the pan and let it simmer for 1 minute.
Put rice in a bowl.
Grab a spatula and slide the cutlet on the rice. Pour the sauce (including egg and onions) over it. Sprinkle on some scallions and you’re done!
Serve immediately and enjoy! (Tastes best while rewatching your favorite anime⛸)
Please try it out, it’s super delicious! I can totally understand that it’s Yuuris favorite dish because katsudon tastes just awesome.
I hope this was helpful for some of you and you’ll try it out!
Plume de Lynx 