Miso Katsu is a delicious variation on tonkatsu that is a regional specialty of Nagoya, Japan. In this dish, a miso-based sauce adds extra flavor and umami to crispy, deep-fried pork cutlets. It will be your new family favorite for dinner!
Among all the Nagoya Food we tried, there’s one food that Mr. JOC and I didn’t particularly enjoy as much when we tried it there. Yet we grew to appreciate and enjoy it after trying it again after the trip, and that food was Miso Katsu (味噌カツ).
What is Miso Katsu?
If you thought the tangy and sweet tonkatsu sauce was the only sauce to enjoy Tonkatsu with, then today’s recipe might be a new discovery for you.
In Nagoya, people enjoy eating Tonkatsu with a miso-base sauce which is made of a dark red miso paste called Hatcho Miso (八丁味噌). This miso is not your ordinary red, white or awase miso (mix of red and white).
For someone like myself who grew up eating Tonkatsu only with tonkatsu sauce, it was definitely a unique experience and the miso sauce is definitely an acquired taste.
It took me a while to build up my tastebuds to appreciate this new flavor. And guess what, now Mr. JOC and I both love Miso Katsu now and we’re quite excited to introduce this dish to you!
Hatcho Miso 八丁味噌
Hatcho Miso is traditionally made of 100% soybeans (no grains, like rice and wheat, are added), and it is a darker, more reddish-brown than miso made with rice (kome miso 米味噌). How’s the taste? It’s not as sweet as other kinds of miso and it has really intense, bold, and rich flavor with good umami.
The miso was first created in a village about 870 meters (Hatcho 八丁) west of Okazaki Castle in Aichi prefecture. The miso was named after the “Hatcho Village”.
Hatcho Miso is mostly consumed in Aichi prefecture (where Nagoya is), part of Gifu prefecture, and part of Mie prefecture. You can purchase the miso throughout Japan, but it is rarely used in daily meals.
How To Make Miso Sauce for Miso Katsu
Since I already have a delicious Tonkatsu recipe, all I needed was a good miso sauce.
The miso sauce is actually quite simple to make. Hatcho miso is usually diluted with dashi and sweetened with sugar and mirin. Because you sweeten the miso, it is not salty anymore and has a rich and bold taste to it.
When we were in Nagoya, we visited one of the most popular Miso Katsu restaurants called Yabaton (矢場とん). You can read about our experience here, but guess what I got there.
Not only did we eat their Miso Katsu at the restaurant, but I also purchased their miso sauce and brought it back to the U.S. Yes! Time to experiment and create Just One Cookbook Miso Katsu (dramatic music plays)!
Thanks to the sauce I had purchased, I could compare my own sauce against Yabaton’s sauce side by side. I tried making the sauce with Hatcho Miso as well as other red miso, but I think Hatcho Miso is absolutely necessary to re-create Yabaton’s sauce. Mr. JOC said the sauce I made was even better than Yabaton’s sauce, but I think he’s just being nice. 😉 After several experiments and trials, lots of fried pork chops, our family started to enjoy Miso Katsu.
The Best Tonkatsu for Miso Katsu
For those of you who absolutely don’t want to deep fry your Tonkatsu, follow my Baked Tonkatsu recipe (with video). It’s easy, delicious, and pretty close to deep-fried Tonkatsu.
But I will say nothing beats deep-fried crispy hot Tonkatsu! Here are 3 key points to make the best Tonkatsu…
Make a couple of slits: Make a few slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat. The reason why you do this is that red meat and fat have different elasticities, and when they are cooked they will shrink and expand at different rates. This will allow the meat to stay nice and flat when deep frying and prevent it from curling up.
Pound the meat: Using a meat tenderizer or the back of the knife, pound both sides of the meat to soften it.
Double fry: After the deep frying the first time, take out the meat and let the hot oil on the exterior slowly cook the meat as it sits without overcooking in the hot oil. Then deep fry again for the final crisp texture.
How Else Can You Eat Miso Katsu?
- Miso Katsu Sandwich (味噌カツサンド) – Put the pork and shredded cabbage in the sandwich bread.
- Miso Katsu Donburi (味噌カツ丼) – Put shredded cabbage over rice and drizzle some miso sauce. Then place the Tonkatsu on top and pour plenty of miso sauce. A perfect one-bowl dish!
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Miso Katsu
Video
Ingredients
- ½ head green cabbage (to serve on the side with Miso Katsu)
- 4 pieces boneless pork loin chops (½-inch thick) (1 lb, 454 g)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (4 Tbsp)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 4 cups neutral oil (for deep-frying)
For the Miso Sauce (½ cup, 120 ml)
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 2 Tbsp sake
- ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup hatcho miso (4 Tbsp)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut or shred ½ head green cabbage into thin slices. Wash under cold running water and drain completely. Keep it cool in the refrigerator.
To Make the Miso Sauce
- Heat 1 Tbsp mirin and 2 Tbsp sake in a small saucepan over high heat and let the alcohol evaporate.
- Lower the heat and add 2 Tbsp sugar, ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock), and ¼ cup hatcho miso.
- Combine well with a silicone spatula. Cook for 3 minutes on low heat, stir frequently to avoid burning on the bottom of the saucepan. When the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat and set aside.
To Prepare the Cutlets
- Remove the extra fat from 4 pieces boneless pork loin chops (½-inch thick) and make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat. Red meat and fat have different elasticities and will shrink and expand at different rate when cooked. These slits will allow the meat to stay nice and flat when deep-frying and prevent curling.
- Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or if you don’t have one then just use the back of the knife. Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands.
- Season both sides of the meat with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) and 1 Tbsp water.
- Dredge the meat in ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) and remove the excess flour.
- Then dip in the beaten egg and dredge in 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). After removing the excess panko, press gently. While deep-frying, the panko will “pop up” so at this moment they don’t have to be fluffy.
To Deep-Fry
- Heat 4 cups neutral oil in a pot over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 350ºF (180ºC). If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of the oil and comes right up, then that’s around 350ºF (180ºC) as well. When the oil reaches that temperature, gently submerge the pork loin into the oil. Keep watching the oil’s temperature and make sure it doesn’t go over 350ºF (180ºC) or the pork katsu will look burnt.
- Deep-fry for 1 minute on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. If your meat is thinner than ¾ inch, then reduce to 45 seconds for each side.
- Now, take out the meat and remove the excess oil by holding it in a vertical position for a few seconds. Place on top of a wire rack (if a wire rack is not available, use a paper towel) and let it sit for 4 minutes. The hot oil on the exterior will slowly continue to cook the meat as it sits. Please do not cut to check whether the inside is cooked or not. We need to keep the panko shell on to retain the heat. While waiting, you can scoop up and discard any fried crumbs in the oil with a fine-mesh strainer.
- After resting for 4 minutes, bring the oil back to 350ºF (180ºC) again and deep-fry the meat for 1 minute (about 30 seconds each side).
- Remove the cutlet from the oil. Poke the meat with a chopstick; if clear liquid comes out, then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the meat vertically again for a few seconds. Then, leave it on top of the rack or paper towel for 2 minutes. If you have to use a paper towel, try to keep the meat in a vertical position so it does not get soggy on one side.
To Serve
- Cut the tonkatsu into large pieces by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth in a sawing motion. This way, the breading will not come off. Transfer to a plate and serve the shredded cabbage on the side. You can pour the sauce before serving or serve the sauce on the side. Enjoy immediately.
To Store
- You can keep the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks and in freezer. You can also use this sauce for marinating the fish or use as a dipping sauce for hot pot, konnyaku, and steamed vegetables.
Which shredder do you have for shredding the cabbage??
Hi Aya! I use this one: https://amzn.to/2F9k7u0
Our local Asian grocery had this Haccho miso. We loved this sauce with pork katsu!!! Very different and more savory and wonderful! Added a little bit more sugar but maybe didn’t even need too. I really like the katsu fried twice, so crispy! Thanks for a wonderful different take on a standby classic. Also thanks for being such a dependable source of Japanese recipes! Hopefully the next time we are in Japan, we can do a side trip to Nagoya.
We had two leftover and made your wonderful Katsu Sando “sandwich”
for lunch the next day!
Yes!!! The best… 🙂
Hi Sue! Aww I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! It’s really cool to hear you like this unique miso and you have a sophisticated tongue to enjoy it! You will love visiting Nagoya and enjoy the specialty foods: https://www.justonecookbook.com/nagoya-food/
Hi Nami, i was looking in my area (netherlands) for hatcho miso paste, but unfortunately i was only able to find the powder version. It is from the brand Maruya Hatcho Miso Co. Ltd. However it is unclear for me how to use in combination with this recipe. Your advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Stef!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe from the Netherlands!
We have never used the powder version before. However, according to their website, the product is dehydrated miso. So it may work if you make it to the paste with a little warm water and use it for this recipe.
We hope this helps!
Hi Naomi,
Thank you for your quick reply. It was a bit difficult for me to figure out their website, since I can not read Japanese 😉 In 2018 I have been in Nagoya area for a month for work and found out about this sauce with the deep-fried pork cutlets. It was very nice to eat.
Now by accident I came across this recipe via your website and was interested to see if I can mimic the taste. I do have one more question. In the recipe itself you use 50 gram of hatcho miso paste, however the package I got is already 50 gram, so I am not sure how much “powder” I should use to get to the equivalent as mentioned in your recipe. Thank you 🙂
Hi Stef,
My pleasure!
On their website, it said to sprinkle to food or soup to enjoy the Hatcho Miso flavor and not much more direction.😕
Since we had never used this product, we don’t know how much powder will be equivalent to 1 Tbsp paste.
Maybe try 10g first and see how it goes?
Hi Naomi,
I did a try out and used the following ratio’s: 1 Tbsp of powder + 1 Tbsp of water for the mixture. Then combining it with the other ingredients I tried to make the sauce. What I noticed is that the sauce did not became any thicker during the cooking. At some point I decided to add a bit of aka miso and then it became thicker as desired, only the taste in the end was not so nice yet. More tweaking is needed. It seems that their website already gave some indirect hints to use to sprinkle to food or for soup 😉
Hi Stef!
Thank you very much for sharing your update!
We hope we can easily find the ratio to make the powder into a pate so that you don’t need to add other miso.😓
Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hello. How long can you keep cooked tonkatsu in the fridge for, and how would you recommend reheating it? Thank you for your clear detailed instructions!
Hi Rebecca! I would freeze my katsu even though I eat the next day (and you can store for up to 1 month or so). Freezing is always a better choice to keep the quality of food. You must reheat in the oven or toaster oven for a crispy outer layer. Do not microwave, which will turn into soggy panko coating. 🙂
[…] Cabbage: Many of you asked about the shredded vegetable next to Tonkatsu, Miso Katsu, Ham Katsu, Gluten-Free Baked Chicken Katsu, Korokke, and Fried Oyster. It’s actually just […]
[…] Tonkatsu Recipes: Baked Tonkatsu, Gluten-free Baked Chicken Katsu, Miso Katsu, Menchi […]
[…] Miso Katsu […]
Just made this for dinner. The sauce was not the consistency I was looking for (it was basically flavored broth) but the taste was out of this world!!! Total keeper! Thanks for posting this.
Hi Pattie! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your feedback! I created the miso sauce that’s similar in taste and texture to the Yabaton sauce I brought back (so I compared side by side). Their sauce is liquidy (thin sauce) and not thick pasty one. You can probably try reducing the sauce (by evaporating) or reduce the amount of liquid (but try not to adjust the flavor)…
Hi Nami,
Thank you very much for your Youtube channel and blog. Appreciate all the effort you put into both.
Couple of quick questions.
I wanted to try your Miso Katsu receipe. We’re in Tokyo right now, and I wanted to purchase some Hatcho Miso. Is there a particular brand you prefer? I know you posted a picture of a couple of containers of miso. Do you prefer these brands?
Should I consider purchasing other items while here? These would be items we can’t get back in the U.S. We’re going to try to visit Kappabashi. I think you recommended going here in your video. BTW, I think I read or heard that you live in the Bay Area. I live in Foster City. Where do yo normally shop for your Japanese ingredients? We normally go to Nijiya in San Mateo.
Thanks!
Kevin
Hi Kevin! Thank you for your kind words! 🙂 Ha! I live in your neighboring city and go to Nijiya (and Suruki sometimes) to shop. 🙂
No, I didn’t particularly pick that brand. Nijiya only carries 2 brands of hatcho miso. Japan has so many selections, so ask the store person which one is best. Unless you have already tried and liked, hatcho miso tastes unique and either you like it or not so much, so don’t buy a big tub. 😀
Yes, if you love kitchen stuff, you’ll have fun walking around in Kappabashi. It can be overwhelming. I think it’s good to have a good knife… try holding different kinds on your own. Here in the US Japanese knife brands are limited. What else… it’s kind of hard to suggest as I don’t know what you have in your kitchen and what you like to cook. 😀 Some stuff can be purchased on Amazon, but the brand/quality may not be good, but it is decent. For example, you can buy donabe (earthenware hot pot) but they are not from Japan or very cheaply made… you can purchase good quality one there. Tamagoyaki pan (if you make tamagoyaki) – there is no good brand on Amazon, and all that cooking equipment you need to make Japanese food – Imagawayai, Takoyaki, Sukiyaki (cast iron pan), etc etc… walk around and see… Lots of ceramic dishes too! Have a wonderful time! I wish I can be in Japan during fall (my kids have school…).
Is hatcho miso like hoba miso? We’ve had hoba miso several times and my wife and I both love it.
Hi Kevin! Apology for my late response. No, it’s different. I love hoba miso too!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/hoba-miso-with-beef/
Hello! I’m not much of a cook but I miss this from when I was in Nagoya so I’m going to try. Can I ask what type of sake is used for “cooking sake?”
Hi Ed! I usually use one of these 3 brands – depends on which one is on sale. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
Looks like you had entered! 🙂 It’s cool you know Yabaton!? At first we weren’t used to the taste, but now we love Miso Katsu!! 🙂
Yeah I totally agree. This food was exactly that! 😀
Can’t wait to try this…thanks
Hi Lyn! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Namiko,
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I love miso sauce katsu after tasting it once. Just one question, can I substitute Hatcho miso with other miso? It takes me a long time to finish my current tub of white miso so I’m hesitant to buy another tub just to make the sauce.
Many thanks,
Dawn
PS: I really love how you make jap food so easy to make at home and yet so yummy. Thanks so much.
Thank you for trying out my recipes, Dawn! 🙂 I know what you mean. I currently have like 4 tubs of miso and 2 hatcho miso at home!!! Good thing is that miso lasts long time… I would suggest to use red miso which is the closest to Hatcho miso (red miso) but the taste is quite different. I think you’ll still enjoy it though. Maybe less sugar is okay as red miso is not as strong as hatcho miso. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’m new to Japanese cooking (slowly making my way through most of your recipes!) and still I have at the moment is white miso. I don’t think I use miso enough to warrant having 2 different types of miso – do you think I could do the miso sauce with white miso?
Hi Charlotte! Thank you so much for trying my recipes! I’m so happy to hear you’re cooking Japanese food! 🙂 I think the best sub is red miso. Red and white miso are quite different in taste, so if you can’t get hatcho miso, I think red miso can be used. Though, Hatcho miso has really unique flavor that none of the miso is similar enough. 🙂
I love dark, strong 豆味噌!I’m not sure if my current 100% bean miso is technically “Hacho Miso” or not. I’ve had Hacho Miso in the past, but my local Japanese grocery often has different kinds of miso each time I visit. Miso is a very complex topic to me, since I didn’t grow up with it. I’d love to see a post discussing your thoughts about the different kinds of miso!
Hi Miss J! You do like dark strong mame miso! It really has an acquired taste, doesn’t it? Luckily my local Japanese supermarket carries 2 brands of Hatcho Miso. Miso is very complex indeed. I love koji miso in my miso soup. 🙂