Frying is awesome! Deep frying, double frying, re-frying, frying light, etc, it’s all good! And while aiming to be low-carb/keto, we technically can enjoy fried foods like a ketofied Japanese pork cutlet AKA tonkatsu! Although your typical processed oil isn’t ‘healthy’, it’s ‘0’ carbs. The carbs from fried food actually comes from the crust, which usually is made from bread or grain flour.
So anyway, one night our extended family wanted to make tonkatsu, which is fried pork covered in a breading. And although we love tonkatsu, the traditional version of it does contain quite a bit of carbs. So as we often do, we looked for a workaround and out went the bread crumbs and in came the Pork Rinds!
Pork Rinds make for a great and easy substitution since it maintains the classic crunch of fried food all while even adding some extra flavors in the crust!
After a couple of tries making this dish, I presented the ‘low-carb/keto‘ version to my extended family (they didn’t know). Their reaction was ‘how did you make the crust, it’s so good’! Hopefully after you try this recipe out, you’ll have a similar reaction!
This dish, as pictured, has a total of ~6g net carb, including the sauce. Keep in mind that majority of the carbs for this dish is in the sauce, so just use less sauce if you want less carbs.
As of the crust, I’ve been told by many non-low-carb/keto people that it has a better crunch and texture than the traditional breadcrumb version. So we hope that your guest agrees as well!
Also, since we’ve also learned that people in certain locations such as Australia have a difficult time accessing Pork Rinds, we’ve included an optional Psyllium Husk crust as well! Lastly, we will be making the tonkatsu sauce from scratch since the store-bought ones are pumped full of sugar.
With these subtle changes, it really does add to this traditional dish!
For this one, you will need quite a few ingredients but most everything can be purchased on Amazon if needed.
Now, let’s get started!
Prepping Time 15MOptional Brine Time 1H
Cook Time 5M
Total Time 20M
Net Carb/Serv ~6g
Servings 2
Ingredients
Pork Crust
- 3-4 Slices of Boneless Pork Top Loin
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Cup Shredded Cabbage
- Wedge of Lemon (optional)
- 1 Cup Almond Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 3oz Unflavored Pork Rinds (1/3 Cup if using Pork Panko)
- 1/3 Cup Psyllium Husk (optional substitution for Unflavored Pork Rinds)
Optional Brine
- 2 Cups of Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
Sauce
- 2 tbsp Sugar Free Ketchup
- 5 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tsp Swerve/Monkfruit
Directions
1) Gather all the ingredients.
2) Add 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp salt into a large mixing bowl. Add pork to start brine process and brine for 1 hour. Note – you can skip this step if desired.
3) Pat pork dry with a paper towel. Once dried, sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Note – if you did the brine, omit salt.
4) Shred cabbage with a shredder and cut the optional wedge of lemon. Transfer 1 cup of shredded cabbage and lemon wedge per serving.
5) In a small mixing bowl, combine Sugar Free Ketchup, worcestershire sauce, Oyster Sauce and Swerve/Monkfruit. Mix well and set aside.
6) Pour Unflavored Pork Rinds into a food processor and pulse until ground into very fine crumbs. You can also use your hands to crush the pork rinds if you don’t have a food processor. Note – Skip this step if you are using Pork Panko/Psyllium Husk.
7) Fill 1 mixing bowl with Almond Flour, 1 mixing bowl with beaten eggs, 1 mixing bowl with crushed Unflavored Pork Rinds/Psyllium Husk.
8) In this order, dip and coat each pork chop: Almond Flour > eggs > crushed Unflavored Pork Rinds/Psyllium Husk. Once coated, place on holding a plate.
9) Add enough oil to cover about 1/2 inch (we use a cast iron with good results). Heat oil up to 375F (if you don’t have a thermometer, just wait until the oil starts to lightly smoke).
10) Once the oil is ready, place heat to medium and carefully place 4 pork pieces at a time. Cook time will depend on the thickness, but for the thin ones, it takes about 1 – 1.5 minutes where as the thicker ones will be around 2.5-3 minutes. Flip and fry the other side for another 1-1.5 minute (if you have a meat thermometer, serving temp of pork is 145F). Note – if you used Psyllium Husk, cook on lower heat as it will burn easily.
11) Transfer to a drying rack. If you do not have a drying rack, use a plate with a paper towel to soak up oil.
12) Once dried, slice the pork cutlet into 1/2 inch slices and plate onto of bed of cabbage. Enjoy with drizzled sauce and optional squeeze of lemon!
Enjoy your low-carb/keto tonkatsu pork cutlet!!
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Tonkatsu - Japanese Pork Cutlet
Ingredients
Pork
- 3 Thin Slices of Boneless Pork Top Loin
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Cup Shredded Cabbage
- Wedge of Lemon optional
- 1 Cup Almond Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 3 oz Unflavored Pork Rinds 1/3 Cup if using Pork Panko
- 1/3 Cup Psyllium Husk optional substitution for Unflavored Pork Rinds
Optional Brine
- 2 Cups Water
- 1 tbsp Salt
Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar Free Ketchup
- 2 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1/2 tsp Swerve/Monkfruit
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Add 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp salt into a large mixing bowl. Add pork to start brine process and brine for 1 hour. Note - you can skip this step if desired.
- Pat pork dry with paper towel. Once dried, sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Note - if you did the brine, omit salt.
- Shred cabbage with a shredder and cut optional wedge of lemon. Transfer 1 cup of shredded cabbage and lemon wedge per serving.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine Sugar Free Ketchup, worcestershire sauce, Oyster Sauce and Swerve/Monkfruit. Mix well and set aside.
- Pour Unflavored Pork Rinds into a food processor and pulse until ground into very fine crumbs. You can also use your hands to crush the pork rinds if you don't have a food processor. Note - Skip this step if you are using Pork Panko/Psyllium Husk.
- Fill 1 mixing bowl with Almond Flour, 1 mixing bowl with beaten eggs, 1 mixing bowl with crushed Unflavored Pork Rinds/Psyllium Husk.
- In this order, dip and coat each pork chop: Almond Flour > eggs > crushed Unflavored Pork Rinds/Psyllium Husk. Once coated, place on holding a plate.
- Add enough oil to cover about 1/2 inch (we use a cast iron with good results). Heat oil up to 375F (if you don't have a thermometer, just wait until the oil starts to lightly smoke).
- Once the oil is ready, place heat to medium and carefully place 4 pork pieces at a time. Cook time will depend on the thickness, but for the thin ones, it takes about 1 - 1.5 minutes where as the thicker ones will be around 2.5-3 minutes. Flip and fry other side for another 1-1.5 minute (if you have a meat thermometer, serving temp of pork is 145F). Note - if you used Psyllium Husk, cook on lower heat as it will burn easily.
- Transfer to a drying rack. If you do not have a drying rack, use a plate with a paper towel to soak up oil.
- Once dried, slice the pork cutlet into 1/2 inch slices and plate onto of bed of cabbage. Enjoy with drizzled sauce and optional squeeze of lemon!
Video
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Great ketofied recipe. It even works with bone in pork chops. I think it is even better than the normal breadcrumb recipe. Thanks!
Hey Judy! You are very welcome and we think this version is better than the classic one as well! Check back soon as we do have a great chicken katsu version in the works as well!