I watched this video and wondered why they precook the pork, before frying it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo5LlARMQDU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo5LlARMQDU)
One idea I have is because the thicker the meat the longer it takes to cook and by that time, the breadcrumb coating might have burned by then. So they precook the meat beforehand to prevent that. Plus, they can control how the meat is cooked better, because you’re generally not meant to fry anything for long periods of time.
Because almost every katsudon recipe I see is they always fry the pork raw, not once it’s been cooked.
Now, if I were to follow this skeletal recipe from the YouTube video is there any general notes I should take up?
For example, is it recommended that I boil the pork in water or some kind of broth?
EDIT: Extra question
Apparently, a couple of sumos opened a restaurant that specialises in giant katsudon.
Here’s the article that reveals a little of their methods.
[https://hazeldiary.com/2023/03/katsudon-chiyomatsu-dotonbori-osaka/](https://hazeldiary.com/2023/03/katsudon-chiyomatsu-dotonbori-osaka/)s
What I’m interesting in is their 200g pork that is 2.5cm thick and cooked in sous vide for 12 hours and they cook the 400g pork loin that’s 5cm thick for 24 hours (presumably at the same temperature)
If there were to cook their pork for that long, what temperature do you think they’d cook it at?
3 comments
>One idea I have is because the thicker the meat the longer it takes to cook and by that time, the breadcrumb coating might have burned by then. So they precook the meat beforehand to prevent that. Plus, they can control how the meat is cooked better, because you’re generally not meant to fry anything for long periods of time.
That is exactly the reason. They cut the pork so absurdly thick that it would be impossible to cook it properly without the precook.
As for how they precooked it…I would bet my money that it was cooked sous vide. It would be extremely difficult to get the entire slab cooked that evenly otherwise. Poaching it would make it soggy and it would still not be cooked quite so evenly, and cooking it in the oven would create a much more obvious temperature gradient within the meat.
I’ve eaten here a few times. It’s the shit. I would assume sous vide. They fry to order and have a massive line. Their food is divine
Other then quality control there is a big reason to precook the meat that is only relevant to commercial cooking: time spent per order. During rush times you can bang out a lot more orders due to the reduction in fryer time. More orders=more profit. As to bag size, don’t get hung up on home kitchen equipment. My banquet kitchen has a cryo-vac machine big enough to seal 2×6 kg Canadian striploins at a time.