Have you tried hamburger steaks coated with panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried until golden and crispy? Called Menchi Katsu, these juicy Japanese ground meat cutlets will really hit the spot! Four delicious sauce options included.
In comparison to well-known western style Japanese food (yoshoku) such as hamburger steak, omurice, and Japanese curry, Menchi Katsu (メンチカツ) may not be as recognizable outside of Japan. However, if you are at butcher shops and delis in Japan, you will get to buy freshly made, juicy and delicious minced meat cutlets aka Menchi Katsu. They are actually pretty easy to make, so give this recipe a try at home!
What is Menchi Katsu?
Simply speaking, Menchi Katsu (メンチカツ) is ground meat cutlet. In Kansai (Osaka area), it’s called Minchi Katsu (ミンチカツ) as Minchi or Menchi in Japanese means “minced”, and katsu is “cutlet”, anything panko-breaded and deep-fried.
If you have tried hambagu (Japanese-style Salisbury steak), Menchi Katsu is basically a hambagu that’s breaded in panko breadcrumbs like tonkatsu, and then deep-fried. Like a smaller size hamburger, but with an extra layer of crunchiness from the flake-like panko.
Menchi Katsu originated in a western style Japanese restaurant in Tokyo during the Meiji era, which is over 100 years ago. Then early Showa era, it became popular in Kansai region where it’s known as Minch Katsu.
Today, one of the best places to enjoy Menchi Katsu is at the butcher shops as they use the freshest quality meat to make the patties and deep fry at the store.
3 Easy Tips to Remember When Making Menchi Katsu
1. Use a combination of beef and pork
Typically menchi katsu is made with both beef and pork, with beef being slightly more than pork. You can adjust the ratio as you like, but using these two types of meat makes the patties juicy and tender.
2. Knead the meat mixture until sticky and pale in color
It’s important to knead the meat well with your hands or a wooden spatula. The mixture will turn into a pale color and become sticky.
3. Rub the oil on your hands before shaping the meat mixture
To avoid the meat sticking to your hands, make sure to use a small amount of oil to rub on your hands before shaping the meat patties with your hands.
4. Release the air by tossing the patties
When the air pockets appear in the patties, it can be easily broken into pieces. Make sure to toss the patties between your hands and let the air escape from the meat patty.
5. Refrigerate the patties for at least 30 minutes
While you are shaping the meat mixture into patties, some fat gets melted. To achieve juicy patties, you will need to solidify the fat that has melted. Refrigerate the patties for 30 to 60 minutes before moving to the next step will do the trick.
Serve Menchi Katsu with Homemade Tartar Sauce
Menchi Katsu is delicious as it is without any sauce, but sometimes it is served with tonkatsu sauce, Worcestershire sauce (Japanese Usuta-sauce), or a combination of the tonkatsu and Worcestershire sauce.
I like to serve Menchi Katsu with homemade tartar sauce. The creamy egg and mayo along with tangy pickles go really well with Mechi Katsu. In general, deep-fried food goes well with tangy sauce, which is why Tonkatsu or Worcestershire sauce works best.
If you don’t have time to make the homemade tartar sauce, just serve Menchi Katsu straight up or with a simple sauce like Tonkatsu sauce or Worcestershire sauce.
Baked Menchi Katsu?
You can use my pre-toasting panko technique to make Baked Menchi Katsu just like the Baked Chicken Katsu, Baked Tonkatsu, and Baked Croquette recipes.
Enjoy Menchi Katsu with a bowl of steamed rice and a side of miso soup.
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Menchi Katsu
Ingredients
- ½ onion
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef and pork combination (normally 70% beef and 30% pork)
- 2 Tbsp panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups neutral oil
For the Breading
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (for dredging)
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (for dredging)
- 1½ cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (for dredging)
For the Sauce Options
- tonkatsu sauce (you can make my recipe for homemade Tonkatsu Sauce)
- Worcestershire sauce
- tonkatsu or Worcestershire sauce + ketchup
- Homemade Tartar Sauce (try my Japanese-style Tartar Sauce recipe)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Mince ½ onion (called mijingiri in Japanese). Lay the cut onion flat side down on the cutting board. With the knife tip pointing toward the root end, make ⅛-inch vertical slices to within ½ inch of the root end. With the knife edge toward the root end, make ⅛-inch horizontal slices, again keeping the root intact. Finally, make perpendicular cuts down through the vertical slices you made. To chop the onions finer, run your knife through them using a rocking motion while holding down the tip of the knife.
- Heat 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent and golden brown.
- Transfer the onion to a large bowl and set aside to cool.
- To the bowl with the onion, add 1 lb ground beef and pork combination, 2 Tbsp panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), 1 Tbsp milk, 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell), ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Knead well with your hands until the meat mixture becomes pale and sticky.
- Roughly divide the mixture into 6 balls.
- Toss each ball from one hand to the other about 5 times to release air from inside the ball so the meat patty won’t break when you deep-fry.
- Now, form each ball into an oval-shaped patty and place on a plate. Cover with plastic and rest in the refrigerator for 30–60 minutes to solidify the fat.
To Bread the Patties
- Prepare 3 separate bowls for ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour), 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (beaten), and 1½ cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). Dredge and coat each patty in the flour, beaten egg, and panko.
- When you are coating with the panko, fix the patties into a nice oval shape.
To Deep-Fry
- Heat 3 cups neutral oil to 340ºF (170ºC). Check the oil temperature with an instant-read thermometer. To check with wooden chopsticks, dip them in the oil; when small bubbles form around the tips, the oil is ready. Gently place the patties into the oil; I cooked 2 patties at a time. Deep-fry in batches. Tip: When you deep-fry, do not crowd the pot because the oil temperature will drop quickly. Your ingredients should take up no more than about half of the oil surface area at any one time. For more helpful hints, read my post How to Deep-Fry Food.
- Deep-fry for 3 minutes on each side (6 minutes total). For the first 2 minutes, don’t touch the patties as they are soft and break easily.
- Once golden brown, remove the patties and place on a wire rack to drain the oil for 1–2 minutes. The remaining heat will finish cooking the inside of the patties. Before frying the next batch, scoop up the crumbs in the oil with a fine-mesh skimmer. Otherwise, the crumbs will burn, stick to your new patties, and darken the oil. Continue frying the other patties.
To Serve
- Serve immediately with your choice of tonkatsu sauce, Worcestershire sauce, the combination of tonkatsu or Worcestershire sauce + ketchup, or Homemade Tartar Sauce. It‘s also delicious served in a Menchi Katsu Sandwich.
To Store
- Let the Menchi Katsu cool completely and store in an airtight container. You can freeze for up to a month. When you‘re ready to eat, reheat at 350ºF (180ºC) in the oven. It‘s more difficult to deep-fry raw patties that are frozen, so I recommend deep-frying the patties first before freezing them.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 14, 2011. The images, the content, and the recipe were updated in August 2018.
Love your recipes!! I’ve been using your recipes for years now. I ’m cooking menchi katsu tonight! I’ve made this dish many times already. I made your shrimp& broccolini pasta last night..it was delicious! Thank you!
Hi June! Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Nami,
I tried making Menchi-Katsu, however when I fry them, the patties gives out blood in the frying process. Hence, it looks kind of ugly as it has black spots on them – from the dried blood.
Why do you think is that? has the oil gone too hot?
Hi Grace! Thank you for trying this recipe! It’s typically due to the 3 reasons:
* You didn’t knead the meat mixture well enough (was it pale and sticky? Knead with hand!).
* The meat juice came out (did you put in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes?).
* The oil was too hot.
Hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Thanks for the feedback, I probably didn’t knead long enough.
Thank you for sharing your classic Japanese recipes and techniques with us 🙂 JOC is my “to go place’ for Japanese recipes. I love how your share everything Japanese in this site, including the places to go and movies too…
Hi Grace! I hope that will solve the issue next time! 🙂
Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m glad to hear you enjoy my blog. Thank you for using my recipes!
Hi Nami! Actually, i had the same problem as Hana Coz in the recipe., you mentioned “ If you don’t cook right away, cover with plastic wrap and flash-freeze in the freezer (until frozen), then transfer to a freezer bag. You can keep in the freezer for up to a month. When you are ready to cook, do not defrost. Deep fry the frozen patties.”
I ended up with burnt panko but raw meat. Would be great if you could update the recipe, to fry first before freezing if that’s then recommended method. Im scared to deep fry again coz i have a couple more frozen patties.
メンチカツを作りました。とても美味しいです! I love many minced beef recipes, so this kind of katsu was a perfect match for me. My family also really likes this recipe, especially with tonkatsu sauce on top. It reminds me and my mother of meatloaf if it was breaded and deep-fried. If you like minced beef dishes or meatloaf, I highly recommend making menchi katsu. なみさん、ありがとうございます!
Hi Jarrett! うれしいです!レシピつくってくれてありがとう! My kids like minced beef recipes too – and they love Korokke (beef and potato croquettes). 🙂 いつもやさしいメッセージありがとう!
Hi Nami. This looks delicious. I enjoy beef and pork, but unfortunately my family does not. Could I make this recipe using ground turkey or chicken instead? I recently found your site when trying to make dashi for miso soup. I’ve made several of your recipes with amazing results. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi Kim! The taste will be more “plain” with turkey and chicken, compared to beef and pork (as you can imagine), but if that’s what your family can eat, then yes you can make it work! 🙂
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed trying out my recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback! Let me know if there is any question I can answer. 🙂
Hi Nami! Thank you for responding. I tried this recipe using ground chicken and it turned out amazing! It was a little tricky shaping the chicken because it isn’t as firm as beef or pork. I seasoned the ground chicken with Trader Joe’s Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend, which gave it so much flavor.
Hi Kim! Awww! I’m so glad to hear that! Oh I was wondering about that umami seasoning blend. Good to hear you like it! Thank you so much for your kind words!
[…] dari justonecookbook.com Menchi Katsu atau メンチカツ adalah masakan berupa daging giling yang digoreng dengan cara […]
I am totally going to be trying these with curry sauce 🙂
Hi Haylie! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi just wondering if i were to bake the menchikatsu with the pre-toasting method mentioned, how long would i need to bake it for and at what temperature?
Sorry i’m really bad for when not following strict instructions for cooking. Thanks in advance!
Hi Alfred! Hm, I haven’t tried the pre-toasting panko method for Menchikatsu… As the meat is raw (compared to Korokke which is cooked), you have to give plenty of time to cook/bake it. I think you should test and see how long it takes… Use a thermometer or need to slice in half to see if it’s cooked through.
Can just 100% pork only?
Hi Min! Sure you can do that. 🙂
This is a bit frustrating for me. I came to check a few ingredients for this recipe, which is one of my husband’s favorites and a particular go-to of mine, and felt really confused. I see you’ve updated it just last month, but this feels like a completely DIFFERENT recipe! It’s fried and not baked, the ingredients and seasonings are a bit different, you’ve added steps which weren’t there previously, and also added a lot of time to it that it will take if you follow as written with resting the patties in the fridge.
Luckily, for anyone else in my shoes, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has the recipe as originally written here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160624173212/https://www.justonecookbook.com:80/menchi-katsu
I will be saving it and referring to that in the future. I’d also like to try this new version, but NOT when caught by surprise trying to get dinner on the table ASAP!
Hi Jess! I apologize about the recipe update.
We have been slowly updating our older posts with new images, sometimes a video, and new contents to improve our SEO. To do this, we go over the recipe and see if there is anywhere that we need to update. Sometimes recipes stay the same, sometimes new step-by-step pictures are added (like this recipe), and sometimes recipes are also updated (for example, I don’t use those chicken bouillon anymore, which I used to use pre 2011).
This recipe had been rather unpopular (I feel guilty for not-so-good pictures I shared back in 2011), and I decided to work on this recipe again. I made it more classic Japanese way to make Menchi Katsu, which is the deep frying method.
I am terribly sorry about the recipe update. I constantly check my own recipes by using them for my daily meals and if necessary, I update recipes without announcing. I did mention in my FAQ page that I would do so, but I understand it’s hard to find such information. I’m glad you knew how to see my old post in Archive!
Please know that I was surprised and at the same time happy that you were using this old recipe (despite my horrible picture) and I want to THANK YOU.
Hey Nami!
Oh no, I didn’t mean for the comment to come off as annoyed as it did. My apologies! I totally understand updating the recipe, and think it’s great that you do. It just… took me by surprise. (“Wait a second… I thought this had nutmeg in it? And ketchup? 30 minutes in the fridge, I don’t have that kinda time!! Am I in the right place? AHHHHH!”) I’m eager to try the newly updated one too… just maybe not when I’m scrambling to get dinner together!
But now that I’m finally, finally commenting after using your website for YEARS AND YEARS (seriously, you have been a godsend thank you SO much for all you do for this poor American living in Japan), can I ask a few quick questions of you?
What kind of sake do you use? I assume that, like using wine in recipes, using higher quality nihonshuu makes it all taste better. But I’m not sure if I should be looking for a specific “cooking sake” or not. I’ve been buying OneCup (LOL).
Also, what is the translation of extra-firm tofu to Japanese? “Kinu” is “silken” and “Momen” is “firm”, right? Sometimes even when I buy momen for recipes it breaks apart on me.
THANKS! <3 Jess
Hi Jess! I was not annoyed at all, but rather surprised that someone was making this recipe! 😀 Since the recipe change was drastic one – not like measurement of soy sauce has changed etc – I could imagine the panic. LOL.
Thank you for reading my blog for such a long time. I really appreciate it!
Sake I use is one of these three:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
I buy the one that’s on sale (between $5-9 per bottle). Here in the U.S. products are limited or imported ones are expensive… I do not like to use “cooking sake” 料理酒 (ryori-shu) as it contains salt and other stuff. So I use pure (cheep) drinkable sake (but I don’t drink this, it’s for cooking).
You know what, we do not have EXTRA firm in Japan… I think this extra firm one was created for stir fries, and we don’t use these. So the best way is to buy Momen (kind of like medium firm in the US) and draw water out but it won’t be as firm block as extra firm…. Yes, Kinugoshi is silken. If you need for stir frying, best one is deep fried one (brown outside). They won’t break apart. 🙂
Hope that helps!
For the kids you can fill the minced meat with easy melting cheese ^^
i bet they’ll love this. i made a photo of mine:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QTfG1Mqwrg7uGF3ZA
the aonori topping is just for more colors 😛
Hi Kokujou! Looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
Are these the same as “Moss Burgers” ?
Hi Bond! Moss Burger does have Menchi Katsu burger, but I had never ordered it… I usually go with Ebi katsu burger or Moss burger. So honestly I do not know if it would taste same or similar… BUT yes, it’s a same dish. 🙂
Delicious looking cutlets. These will go along way to provide many varied meals and lunch boxes for us all. 🙂
Thank you for your kind comment, Sandy!
Ooooh Gonna have to try this. Is there also any way I could make a whole bunch of these, freeze the leftovers and then just reheat them in a toaster oven for sandwiches?
Hi Kristi! Yes, you can. Just like Korokke (Croquette) recipe, you have to cook (deep fry) them first and then freeze. The toaster oven works great! Hope you enjoy!
these look soo delicious and remind me a lot of something i often ate at the uni cafeteria during my stay in japan. only mine had something like cream cheese (?) inside of them. they came with a brownish sauce called おいしソース (or similar). but i just can’t remember how they were called! >_<
can you help me?
* i mean there was cream cheese in the middle, but it was still a menchi katsu.
Hi Serena! We stuff cheese (cream cheese), quail egg, cherry tomato etc in to this kind of meat patties for fun. But it’s more of adaptation of traditional Menchi Katsu recipe that we don’t have a specific name for it. We do that for Japanese hamburger steak too. The restaurant probably gave an original name for it. The sauce name is 美味しい(おいしい)ソース (delicious sauce)? If it’s おいしソース, they put おいしいそう (look yummy) + ソース together and say おいしソース (that’s pretty creative name haha). If the sauce is brown, maybe tonkatsu sauce, demiglace sauce, or ketchup&tonkatsu sauce mix I think. I’m not sure if I answered to your question…but hope it helps. 🙂
Thank you a lot for you detailed answer, Nami! It helped me alot cause now I know I don’t need to look for a specific recipe anymore 😀
Also thanks for the suggestions with the sauce, I’m leaning towards ketchup&tonkatsu (it wasn’t even translucent)… or maybe demiglace (but then again, I have no idea what demiglace sauce it ^^°)
I’ll try to take little chunks of cream cheese and build my patty around it soon. I’ve been really craving them~
I love Ketchup & Tonkatsu sauce combination a lot. 🙂 You probably had Demiglace sauce before without realizing its name. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!