Tonkatsu sauce is a traditional Japanese sauce. It is served with tonkatsu (deep-fried Japanese pork cutlet) and is often used for other deep-fried dishes.
Tonkatsu sauce is a sweet-and-sour sauce made mainly with vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, prunes, dates, apples, lemon juice, carrots, onions, and celery. This sauce also includes more than 10 kinds of spices, along with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
In Japan, you can buy tonkatsu sauce in most grocery stores. There are many variations — it is almost like ketchup for us, and it can taste slightly different depending on which brand you choose.
It’s a lot of work to make tonkatsu sauce from scratch, but I created a simplified recipe that tastes just as good.
Can You Buy Tonkatsu Sauce?
Depending on where you live, you might find tonkatsu sauce at your local Asian store or online. But that’s not always an option, and I find you always have a limited selection compared to the hundreds of different versions you can find in Japan. So it’s kind of a “this is what we have, take it or leave it” situation.
You can find tonkatsu sauce on Amazon, for example (click on the link for sponsored results), but the selection is also limited, and it depends on where you live.
I still recommend buying a commercial tonkatsu sauce so that you can try what it tastes like. Don’t forget, though, that the taste might differ a lot between brands. As you will see in the recipe, this is a very easy version of homemade tonkatsu sauce, but that also means that it is kind of simplified. An excellent option, though, if you want to serve your tonkatsu or fried dish with some kind of original Japanese sauce.
About the Ingredients
The type of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce you choose will largely influence the taste of your tonkatsu sauce.
If you’re a fan of stronger, spicier flavors and a darker color, try adding a little soy sauce to the mix.
Easy Tonkatsu Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp ketchup 72 g
- 8 tsp Worcestershire sauce 32 g
- 4 tsp sugar 20 g
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients until the sugar completely melts
- Depending on how you like your tonkatsu sauce, you can make it sweeter or saltier by adding more sugar or Worcestershire sauce.
