A Japanese-style fried pork cutlet gets stuffed with an herbed butter and served with a sweet cucumber salad, herbed rice and a tangy sauce.
For the compound butter, Rach says, "You will have more butter than the recipe requires. Use pats of it on any protein, meat or fish or on hot rice."
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 2 cloves garlic, pasted or grated
- 2 tablespoons flat parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger root, grated or finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon mild oil or butter
- 1 1/4 cups white rice
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 4 scallions coarsely chopped
- 1/2 pound spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 inch ginger, grated or chopped
- 1/2 cup shiso (or ¼ cup cilantro and ¼ cup basil), packed
- 1 lime, juiced, or 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 4 portions (halve lengthwise and across)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup flour
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups panko
- 2 tablespoons togarashi, Japanese 7-spice
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 seedless cucumber or 4 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar or sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 scallions chopped or thinly sliced
- A handful shiso leaves or cilantro leaves, ¼ cup, thinly sliced or chopped
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1 tablespoon mirin
For the butter, combine ingredients. Place on parchment paper, then wrap and roll into a tight log. Pop in freezer to firm up.
For the rice, in saucepot over medium to medium-high heat, heat oil or melt butter, add rice and toast 1-2 minutes, season with salt and pepper, then add stock, bring to boil and reduce heat to low. Cook rice 12-13 minutes. Finely chop the scallions, spinach, garlic, ginger and shiso or cilantro in food processor, then add to rice and cook 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and rest 5 minutes, then fluff rice and add lime or vinegar.
For the pork, pound each quartered piece of tenderloin into a large thin cutlet, and season with salt and pepper. Cut a slice of compound butter, about 1 ½ tablespoons, and center on one-half of the cutlet, fold the meat over and press edges to seal in the butter. Coat cutlets in flour, eggs and panko breadcrumbs seasoned with 7-spice.
Warm oil over medium to medium-high heat. Fry 2 cutlets at a time for 3 minutes on each side, or to deep golden. Keep warm in a low oven on a wire rack-lined baking sheet.
For the salad, season cucumbers with salt and sugar, then drain in strainer for 15 minutes. Toss with vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil, then add scallions and shiso or cilantro and toss.
For the sauce, in a small bowl, combine the ingredients.
