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Menchi Katsu メンチカツ - Deep Fried Ground Meat

Name: Menchi Katsu メンチカツ - Deep Fried Ground Meat
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 6 tablespoon panko (Japanese bread crumb); 3 tablespoon milk; 400 gram ground beef; 1 onion, minced; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; all-purpose flour, about 1/4-1/2 cup; egg, about 1-2; panko, about 1 cup; enough oil for deep frying; tonkatsu sauce; aurora sauce (i.e. equal part of tomato ketchup and Japanese mayonnaise)

Last updated: Apr 18, 2016 — Published: Apr 18, 2016 — By: Anita — 6 comments

Turn ground beef into Japanese menchi katsu, deep-fried ground meat patties, and serve with white rice, curry rice, or sandwiched between Japanese shokupan.

Menchi Katsu (メンチカツ) is a Japanese deep-fried breaded patty made from a mixture of ground meat, typically beef, pork, or a mixture of both, covered with flour, egg, and panko (or Japanese style bread crumb). You can find menchi katsu most often in an inexpensive bento box or teishoku (a meal set combo). I like to think of this as a deep-fried hamburger :) And it can be quite literal too, I mean, if you want to short cut this, you can simply buy burger patties, then coat them in flour, egg, and panko, and deep-fried them to make menchi katsu.

Menchi Katsu メンチカツ - Deep Fried Ground Meat

What do I serve with menchi katsu?

Just like other Japanese katsu, like tonkatsu or torikatsu, menchi katsu goes really well with tonkatsu sauce and sliced cabbage. If your grocery store doesn’t sell tonkatsu sauce, you can try making the sauce at home too.

My homemade tonkatsu sauce

At it’s basic, tonkatsu sauce is Worcestershire sauce thickened with fruit and vegetable puree. By mixing these three ingredients together, you will get a sauce that is very close to Japanese tonkatsu sauce:

6 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoon tomato ketchup
3 tablespoon soy sauce

If the sauce seems too thin to you, feel free to simmer it a little in a saucepot to thicken it.

My homemade aurora sauce

Another sauce that I like to serve with menchi katsu, or any katsu, is aurora sauce. My aurora sauce is a simple mixture of an equal part of tomato ketchup and Japanese mayonnaise (think Kewpie).

How do I enjoy menchi katsu?

Menchi katsu, or any Japanese katsu, are typically served in one of the following ways:

As a katsu teishoku (katsu meal set), basically a set of Japanese meal consists of rice, miso soup, and the katsu itself will come in a separate plate with thinly sliced cabbage, a lemon wedges, and drenched in tonkatsu sauce.
As a katsu curry, basically Japanese curry rice, further topped with a slice of katsu.
As a donburi (Japanese rice bowl), basically a bowl of rice, topped with a piece of katsu (such as menchi katsu), served with a dashi broth with onions and egg. You can see an example of this from my oyako don recipe.
As a katsu sando, basically a simple sandwich made with a piece of katsu and two slices of Japanese shokupan (sandwich bread).