Healthy Tonkatsu (Air Fryer or Oven Baked)

Step 1

Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel. Then, use a sharp paring knife to cut two small slits on the fatty edge of the pork chops—this will keep the pork chop edges from curling up when they cook in the air fryer or oven.

Step 2

Use a meat pounder or meat mallet to smash the chops so they’re about ½-inch thick. If your pork chops are already ½-inch thick, you don’t need to pound them.

Step 3

Sprinkle the pork cutlets on both sides with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Step 4

Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

Step 5

Plop the plantain chips or plantain strips in a food processor and process until a coarse powder is formed. (No food processor? You can place the chips in a ziplock bag and bash them with something heavy until the chips are pulverized.) You should end up with 1 cup of crushed plantain crumbs.

Step 6

Grab three shallow bowls for your breading station. In the first one, pour in the crushed plantain chips. You can reserve half of the plantain crumbs to ensure that you have enough for all four pork chops (pour in extra crumbs as needed). In the second one, add the cassava flour. In the last bowl, whisk together the eggs and ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

Step 7

Lightly coat a pork chop in the cassava flour, shaking off the excess flour. Then, dip it in the egg mixture, making sure it is well coated but not super goopy. In the last step, coat the pork chop completely with crushed plantain chips and place the pork chop on the prepared wire rack in the rimmed baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the pork chops.

Step 8

Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. When the air fryer is ready, lightly spray the bottom of the air fryer with avocado oil spray and place the pork chops in a single layer.

Step 9

Spray the tops of the pork chops with avocado oil.

Step 10

Air fry the pork katsu at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until the outside is golden brown and the center is barely pink and the internal temperature is 145°F.

Step 11

Slice up the tonkatsu and serve it with tonkatsu sauce (a sweet Worcestershire sauce) and shredded cabbage dressed with sesame ginger dressing, if desired.

Step 12

Heat the oven to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection bake with the rack in the middle. Place the pork cutlets on an oven-proof wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Spray the tops of the breaded chops with avocado oil spray.

Step 13

Bake the tonkatsu until the outside is golden brown and the pork is barely pink and the internal temperature is 145°F, about 10 to 13 minutes.

Step 14

Slice up the tonkatsu and serve it with tonkatsu sauce (a sweet Worcestershire sauce) and shredded cabbage dressed with sesame ginger dressing, if desired.