Home / All Recipes / Japanese / Tonteki - Japanese Pork Steak
Tonteki - Japanese Pork Steak
Each bite of the tender, juicy pork steak with a buttery, garlicky soy and Worcestershire sauce that coats the steak will be pure joy. Serve with thinly sliced lettuce/cabbage and cherry tomatoes.
Tonteki (トンテキ), or Japanese pork steak, may not be as famous as tonkatsu (pork cutlets). Most people learn how to cook tonkatsu at home, but not tonteki and I think this is a mistake.
Tonteki is so much easier to prepare since there is no deep-frying involved. The buttery, garlicky sauce that coats each piece of pork steak is just delicious, and a well-prepared homemade tonteki will make a wonderful meal any time of the day.
Ingredients for Tonteki (Japanese Pork Steak)
- pork tenderloin
- salt and pepper
- katakuriko/potato starch or cornstarch
- butter
- garlic
- soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- sugar
Buy pork tenderloin that is around 170 grams (6 ounces) per slice with a thickness of around 2 cm (3/4 inch).
Instead of Worcestershire sauce, you can also use tonkatsu sauce. It won’t be a perfect substitute, but the flavor will be similar.
Instead of fresh garlic, you can also use Japanese raw garlic paste (生にんにく) that comes in a tube.
How to Cook Tonteki (Japanese Pork Steak)
1. Prep pork
Pat dry pork with kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper, and coat with katakuriko.
2. Sear pork
Heat a frying pan until hot over medium-high heat. Melt butter, then sear pork on both sides for a minute each or until golden brown. Set them aside.
TIPS: It is okay if the pork isn’t cooked through since we will cook it further in the sauce later.
3. Make sauce
Turn the heat to medium, sauté garlic until fragrant, then add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Cook until boiling.
4. Glaze pork
Return the pork to the pan and cook until the sauce is thick and coats the pork.
5. Cut steak
Remove pork steaks from the pan and rest for 5 minutes. Cut into bite-size strips and arrange on a serving plate.
6. Serve steak
Serve the pork steaks with thinly sliced cabbage/lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
Other Japanese Pork Dishes to Try
Other than tonteki, Japanese cuisine has many pork dishes to try. Some of my favorite Japanese pork dishes are:
- tonkatsu (pork cutlets)
- butaniku no shoga-yaki (ginger pork sauté)
- tofu and pork hambagu
- hambagu (Japanese hamburger steak)
- buta kaku ni (braised pork bellies)
- Japanese char siu
Tonteki - Japanese Pork Steak
Ingredients
- 4 (each 170 gram / 6 ounce) pork tenderloin
- salt and pepper
- katakuriko/potato starch or cornstarch
- 30 gram (2 tablespoon) butter
- 6 clove (1 tablespoon) garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- Serve with
- sliced cabbage/lettuce
- cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- Prep pork: Pat dry pork with kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper, and coat with katakuriko.
- Sear pork: Heat a frying pan until hot over medium-high heat. Melt butter, then sear pork on both sides for a minute each or until golden brown. Set them aside.
TIPS: It is okay if the pork isn’t cooked through since we will cook it further in the sauce later. - Make sauce: Turn the heat to medium, sauté garlic until fragrant, then add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar. Cook until boiling.
- Glaze pork: Return the pork to the pan and cook until the sauce is thick and coats the pork.
- Cut steak: Remove pork steaks from the pan and rest for 5 minutes. Cut into bite-size strips and arrange on a serving plate.
- Serve steak: Serve the pork steaks with thinly sliced cabbage/lettuce and cherry tomatoes.
Leave a comment