Sauce | SHIZUOKA GOURMET

Tonkatsu is another Japanese gastronomy fast becoming a global favorite!
The tonkatsu is not that difficult to achieve, but too often disappointment comes with the wrong choice of sauce or simply not realizing that the sauce is half of the recipe!

The sauce is not difficult to create and it is open to a lot of variations, so next time instead of using a dubious (cheap) product make your own!

The following recipe is only a basic one which will allow to work on quantities according to your taste and priorities!

INGREDIENTS:

Sesame seeds
Soy sauce (plenty of possibilities there!)
Worcestershire sauce (my favorite is Lea & Perrins, but it’s up to you!)
Tomato ketchup (if you can make your own, so much the better. Try and void too sweet specimens!)
Sugar
Water (easy on that!)

RECIPE:

Sesame seeds are the most important point in a tonkatsu sauce!
The more, the better!
Use golden sesame seeds.
First dry-fry them.

Grind the sesame seeds thoroughly with a mortar (Japanese-style is best!) and pestle.
Bear in mind that the mortar must be big enough to contain all the sauce!

This is where improvisation and personal tastes come into consideration!
First add Soy sauce, Tomato ktechup and Worcestershire sauce.
Mix well and check taste, then add sugar.
Check taste and rectify if necessary.
Add water to liquefy the sauce. Careful there. Too much water and you will end up with soup! Proceed slowly!

Taste again to make sure it is perfect!
Now, there are many things you could further add:
I personally add some very strong Japanese mustard for more zip.
Ground pices of all spices can be considered, but proceed carefully!
There is no need to add salt!

Try to present the sauce in the mortar for better impression and invite your family, friends or guests to serve themselves!

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