Cheesy Menchi Katsu

One of the perks of knowing how to cook is being able to recreate your favorite food from restaurants at home and make them even better. Earlier this week, we ordered from everyone’s beloved house of katsu, Yabu. I always order their chicken katsu because I am basic like that. However, since we chose to have our orders delivered, we ordered the platter which includes salmon, hire katsu, chicken, and menchi katsu. Once I tried a piece of menchi katsu, I immediately wondered why I have been keeping myself from trying it for so long. Of course, I cannot get takeout every time I want it. Otherwise, my GCash would be devoid of funds.

Making these super crunchy, extremely juicy, and very cheesy fried ground meat patties are as simple as cooking burgers at home. They can be prepared ahead of time, frozen, and cooked whenever needed. Although I have not yet tried it yet, I believe that they can also be air fried to cook or be reheated. I included a quick katsu sauce to accompany the dish when served, but they can be eaten alone, along with Japanese soy sauce, or any other dipping sauce of your choice.

Recipe

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients

Cheesy Menchi Katsu

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

250 grams ground beef

250 grams ground pork

4 tablespoons bread crumbs

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup mozzarella

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs

2 cups panko bread crumbs

Oil for deep frying

Katsu sauce

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Sesame seeds, toasted

Procedure

Cheesy Menchi Katsu

• Heat the butter in a pan and sauté the onion until fragrant.

• In a bowl, mix the meats, onion, bread crumbs, milk, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

• Divide the mixture into 6 portions.

• Place a tablespoon of mozzarella in the center of each patty and shape them.

• Coat each patty in flour.

• Dip them in the beaten egg.

• Coat with bread crumbs.

• Heat some oil in a deep fryer.

• Fry each patty for 6-8 minutes.

• Use a spider to retrieve the katsu from the oil and place them on a cooling rack or a plate with tissue to catch excess oil.

• Serve with the katsu sauce, rice, and a side salad. Enjoy!

Katsu sauce

• Mix the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce in a bowl.

• Grind the sesame seeds.

• Mix them all together.