If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve probably had katsucurry or katsudon! And maybe you’ve had tonkatsu とんかつ which is the pork (or chicken チキンカツ) katsu by itself with some rice, a dressed cabbage salad and tonkatsu sauce!

If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you might feel like you’re missing out but this tonkatsu mushroom dish will totally hit the spot! Kinokokatsu きのこカツ ! This is one of my favourite things I’ve ever made 🙂

Mushroom Tonkatsu – Kinokokatsu

Ingredients

• Cooked Japanese rice
• 2 cups of sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of plain flour
• 1/2 cup of plant milk
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon of cornflour
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• Panko bread crumbs
• Tonkatsu sauce to serve, Bulldog brand

Cabbage Salad

• 1/4 of a green cabbage
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon neutral oil
• Toasted sesame seeds

Method

Using a mandolin on the thinnest setting, carefully slice the cabbage. If you don’t have a mandolin, slice the cabbage as thinly as you can with a knife. Set aside.

Mix all the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Do not mix them together now because the cabbage will go very soft, release its water and lose its crunchy texture! Just spoon the dressing on to serve.

For the katsu batter, mix the plain flour, corn flour and the garlic powder together in a big bowl. Whisk in the milk and soy sauce until smooth.

Coat the mushroom slices in the batter, then coat with the panko breadcrumbs. Add to a plate.

Fry the mushrooms in hot oil until they’re golden on both sides, approximately 3 minutes each side.

Transfer the panko mushrooms to a paper towel to remove excess oil.

To plate up, put the warm Japanese rice into a bowl. Top with your tonkatsu mushrooms and a nice mountain of the cabbage. You could have the rice in a side bowl if you’d prefer. Spoon some dressing over the cabbage and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Drizzle tonkatsu sauce generously over the mushrooms or have it in a small dish on the side for dipping.

I like to have a side of kewpie mayonnaise too and I love toasted sesame seeds so I add an extra tablespoon or two of them to my whole plate, especially on the rice!

Enjoy!