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[77 - 79] Hello there. Welcome back to another episode
[79 - 80] of Anything with Albert.
[80 - 81] This time, we're gonna be making
[81 - 84] giant pork cutlet bowls from Japan.
[84 - 85] The theme of this show is to make food
[85 - 87] that I'm excited about based on videos
[87 - 88] that I've personally watched.
[88 - 90] And one of the videos that I've watched many,
[90 - 93] many times late at night is called The Most Giant Pork
[93 - 96] Cutlet Bowl in Japan by SugoUma Japan.
[96 - 98] Now I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good.
[98 - 99] How about starting with the pork?
[99 - 101] I have here essentially the prime rib
[101 - 103] equivalent of a pork chop.
[103 - 104] This is where the pork chops are cut from.
[104 - 106] We just asked them not to cut it at the store.
[106 - 108] We're gonna start with this large roast,
[108 - 109] give it a nice bit of seasoning with some salt
[109 - 112] and pepper all over, and then put it on a wire rack
[112 - 114] and put it in an oven at a low temperature
[114 - 116] of 225 degrees Fahrenheit
[116 - 119] until the middle reads about 135 or so.
[119 - 120] Now in the video, the Tokyo shop seems
[120 - 123] to cook their pork ahead of time, probably in a sous vide
[123 - 125] or in an oven in a similar way.
[125 - 126] That way when they fry it, all they have
[126 - 128] to do is cook the outside and just serve it.
[128 - 130] While that's going, let's work on the bread crumbs.
[130 - 132] Now the breadcrumbs they use in the video seems
[132 - 133] to be Panko bread crumbs,
[133 - 135] but not the dried ones you find at the store.
[135 - 137] These seem to be fresh Panko or nama Panko.
[137 - 139] In order to make those, I think our best bet is
[139 - 141] to start with some fresh Japanese shokupan.
[141 - 143] It's somewhere between sandwich bread and milk bread.
[143 - 146] Not super fluffy but also not super dry.
[146 - 147] It is good just by itself.
[147 - 150] My first thought was to use a box grater get these large,
[150 - 152] beautiful shards that you can see in the video,
[152 - 153] creating a nice, crusty texture.
[153 - 155] But this didn't seem to be working out so good,
[155 - 157] so how about tearing it by hand
[157 - 159] and then realizing that maybe tearing it
[159 - 161] would take probably a little bit too long?
[161 - 162] How about we just throw it into the food processor
[162 - 164] and give it a couple of pulses?
[164 - 166] We're gonna take these, stack up a whole stack of them,
[166 - 169] and cut off the crust so we can only get the nice insides
[169 - 170] for that white color.
[170 - 172] This technique, I feel, is definitely a lot better.
[172 - 175] Just throw it in, make sure to pulse it every now and then,
[175 - 177] but not process it too finely
[177 - 179] to the point where it actually becomes tiny crumbs,
[179 - 180] and then it should be ready to use.
[180 - 182] Hey, pretty neat. Now that the breadcrumbs are done,
[182 - 184] we do have a lot of leftover crust,
[184 - 186] so how about we make something fun with it?
[186 - 188] I'm gonna go ahead and cube these up into tiny bits.
[188 - 190] Oh, look, we found some ham.
[190 - 192] Okay, we're gonna also cut the ham into these small little
[192 - 194] squares as well and just toast these in a pan
[194 - 197] to get some nice color and texture on these things.
[197 - 198] Toss that around until the bread
[198 - 200] and ham start to get a little bit of color.
[200 - 200] And it's a little dry,
[200 - 202] so I'm gonna throw in a couple pads of butter
[202 - 204] to help add some flavor and color to this.
[204 - 206] Kind of thinking of breakfast situation,
[206 - 209] so that definitely involves some eggs and some cheese.
[209 - 211] For seasoning, I found some onion powder
[211 - 212] and some white pepper.
[212 - 214] So let's just give a couple of dashes of those in.
[214 - 215] And this is looking pretty good.
[215 - 217] Could probably eat this right now,
[217 - 219] but kind of wanna make something a little bit more cohesive.
[219 - 221] Found a half-used block
[221 - 222] of cheddar cheese from another shoot,
[222 - 223] so we're gonna take this
[223 - 224] and also cube it up into small bits.
[224 - 226] Throw that in, and toss this around
[226 - 228] until the cheeses slightly begin to melt.
[228 - 231] Then I'm dumping in the equivalent of around six eggs,
[231 - 234] kind of going for a frittata, thick omelet situation
[234 - 237] instead with little bits of crusty ham and toasted bread.
[237 - 239] I also found some thyme, which goes well
[239 - 240] with, I think, everything in this pan.
[240 - 242] So we're gonna drip off a couple of leaves, sprinkle
[242 - 245] that on top, and let that perfume the mixture in the pan.
[245 - 247] We're gonna go ahead and let the edges set.
[247 - 249] Put a plate right on top and give this a little flip.
[249 - 252] Yep, it's a little messy. Also, the spices
[252 - 253] that I put in definitely burned a little bit
[253 - 255] on the bottom, but that's okay.
[255 - 257] We can make this work. Gonna cook the other side
[257 - 258] for another three minutes or so
[258 - 260] until this thing is pretty much cooked through.
[260 - 262] I wanna make sure the inside is still tender.
[262 - 264] And let's transfer this out back onto the board.
[264 - 267] Since the name of the game is to do this on the fly,
[267 - 268] I also found some Okonomi sauce
[268 - 270] and some Kewpie mayo in the back,
[270 - 272] and this kind of reminded me of a large okonomiyaki,
[272 - 274] even though it definitely is not.
[274 - 276] So we're gonna brush some of the Okonomi sauce right on top
[276 - 279] and give it a little zigzag drizzle of Kewpie mayo.
[279 - 281] And I present to you a leftover
[281 - 283] that started with bread crust
[283 - 285] and now has ended with an omelet okonomiyaki
[285 - 288] that is definitely not the accurate version
[288 - 289] of either, but does it taste good?
[289 - 291] Let's give it a slice, and let's see.
[291 - 293] Now this is pretty good.
[293 - 295] It tastes like if you put okonomiyaki sauce
[295 - 297] and seasonings on top of an omelet,
[297 - 299] which is exactly what I did.
[299 - 300] I think we did that really well.
[300 - 302] So let's cut this up and bring it upstairs
[302 - 304] to everybody else that's working hard.
[304 - 305] Let's get back to the actual recipe.
[305 - 306] First, to make a rice bowl,
[306 - 308] we do need to make some nice rice.
[308 - 310] Today, we're using some premium short-grain
[310 - 312] Koshihikari rice from Japan.
[312 - 314] Put some rice in a rice cooker.
[314 - 315] Make sure to wash this a couple times in the sink
[315 - 317] to get rid of all the excess starch.
[317 - 319] Add just enough water so that it is one section
[319 - 321] of your pinky above the rice,
[321 - 323] and then press the Cook button. Nice.
[323 - 326] Now, moving on to the sauce part of this recipe.
[326 - 328] In the video, they seem to be pouring over
[328 - 330] a nice little thin dark-colored sauce,
[330 - 333] which I'm assuming is somewhere between a soy glaze
[333 - 334] and a tonkatsu sauce.
[334 - 336] So in a medium sauce pan over medium heat,
[336 - 340] we're gonna add 1/3 cup of sake and 1/3 cup of mirin,
[340 - 341] cooking the alcohol off just
[341 - 343] for about 30 seconds when it's simmering.
[343 - 345] Then, we're gonna add in 1/2 cup of soy sauce,
[345 - 346] three tablespoons of Worcestershire,
[346 - 348] and about 1/2 cup of water.
[348 - 350] Then, we're gonna combine 1/2 teaspoon
[350 - 352] of instant dashi mix with 1/4 cup of water
[352 - 354] to make a quick faux dashi,
[354 - 356] and that's going to get mixed in as well.
[356 - 358] After tasting it, I decided it needed a little more sugar,
[358 - 361] so in total, we're having six tablespoons
[361 - 362] of sugar in this sauce.
[362 - 364] And then I decided, hey, this would probably taste better
[364 - 366] with a slight bit more sake.
[366 - 367] So that's what I did.
[367 - 369] After that, I think our sauce is ready.
[369 - 371] Then, we're gonna get our breading station ready.
[371 - 374] For our liquid station, we're gonna whisk together two eggs,
[374 - 376] and then slowly whisk in a couple of bits
[376 - 377] of water to make this thinner.
[377 - 380] And then I'm gonna whisk in 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
[380 - 383] and heavily whisk this until there are no lumps remaining.
[383 - 385] So now our breading station is ready.
[385 - 388] Our pork has now been in the oven for about over an hour
[388 - 389] or so, and it looks pretty good to me.
[389 - 391] We're gonna cut off an edge slice because
[391 - 393] that bit is a little bit more overcooked than the rest.
[393 - 395] And we also want cleaner, thicker slices
[395 - 396] for our actual rice bowl.
[396 - 398] Cutting these really thick,
[398 - 401] probably about two inches in width, which is very large
[401 - 403] for a normal tonkatsu because usually
[403 - 405] they're approximately a half inch thick.
[405 - 407] So I can understand why everybody
[407 - 408] loves this video on YouTube.
[408 - 411] After our double cut pork chops are sliced up quite nicely,
[411 - 413] they're gonna get a nice bit of batter
[413 - 416] in this egg mixture we made, pressed into the Panko.
[416 - 418] And then this is gonna go into oil at 350 degrees
[418 - 420] for about 30 seconds or so,
[420 - 422] very quickly just until the outside has browned
[422 - 423] 'cause we don't want to cook
[423 - 424] the inside any more than it needs to be.
[424 - 427] It's already at its nice medium well doneness.
[427 - 428] We're gonna fry both of these cutlets,
[429 - 431] repeating the breading and the battering process.
[431 - 433] And then we're gonna also repeat this with
[433 - 434] that little edge slice that we made just
[434 - 436] to make sandwiches with the remaining milk bread later.
[436 - 438] Once the pork is ready, we're gonna put this
[438 - 440] on a tray lined with a rack to rest
[440 - 442] and drain any excess oil.
[442 - 443] Then, we're gonna cut into our pork.
[443 - 445] We're gonna take this giant cutlet
[445 - 448] and cut this into about half an inch slices all
[448 - 450] the way through with the very satisfying crunch sound.
[450 - 453] Now this? This I can get behind.
[453 - 454] This is beautiful.
[454 - 456] Now that it's time to assemble, we have to fill our bowl
[456 - 459] with a helping of fluffy cooked steamy white rice.
[459 - 461] Now the egg from the video seems
[461 - 462] to be a very quick-cooked egg.
[462 - 465] So in a small pan, I'm heating two tablespoons of butter
[465 - 468] and whisking and cracking in about four eggs.
[468 - 469] This is cooked on a very high heat
[469 - 471] because once it hits the pan,
[471 - 473] I'm constantly moving the edges towards the center
[473 - 475] to allow any of the liquid raw egg
[475 - 476] to move back towards the edge and cook,
[476 - 478] creating this almost ripple pattern
[478 - 479] of cooked and barely-cooked egg.
[479 - 482] The finished egg slides directly on top
[482 - 483] of the rice, perfectly covering it
[483 - 486] and creating a nice little sheet above our bowl.
[486 - 489] Then, we're gonna rearrange these gargantuan slices
[489 - 491] of tonkatsu right on top of the egg.
[491 - 492] Now that looks pretty good.
[492 - 494] And to finish, we're gonna pour over a generous helping
[494 - 497] of our sauce, making sure to soak bits of the tokatsu
[497 - 500] and also making sure that it hits our friends below.
[500 - 502] And I present to you our homemade version
[502 - 504] of The Most Giant Pork Cutlet Bowl in Japan,
[504 - 506] according to the video.
[506 - 507] I've seen a lot of restaurants start
[507 - 509] to do this in Tokyo, so I'm really curious
[509 - 511] to see if it's worth it, given that the fact
[511 - 512] that the meat is a lot larger compared
[512 - 514] to how it usually is served in tonkatsu.
[514 - 517] And I can see Steve waiting behind the camera eagerly,
[517 - 519] so I'm gonna allow him to taste this first.
[519 - 521] To be fair, Steve pretty much almost likes anything
[521 - 524] we make here, but he seems to really like this one,
[524 - 525] which is a great sign.
[525 - 527] Next up is Rachel. She's been helping source all
[527 - 529] of these ingredients and helping with these recipes
[529 - 531] and always is a hero in the kitchen,
[531 - 533] so she deserves to taste this before me as well.
[533 - 535] Yep, I think she likes it too.
[535 - 536] Alright, my turn.
[536 - 538] I definitely see the appeal of eating this.
[538 - 540] The crispy pork goes really well with the rice,
[540 - 542] which goes really well with the egg,
[542 - 543] which goes really well with the sauce.
[543 - 546] Everything sort of ties together in a harmonious bite.
[546 - 548] Let's just say between the three of us, not a single drop
[549 - 550] of food was wasted that day.
[550 - 552] Everything either went into our bellies
[552 - 555] or into a takeout container for Steve to take home.
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