Pork Tatsuta

My mom was visiting me from abroad for 3 weeks. I moved out of my parents home when I was 18 to go to college, so since then, I do not get to eat her food as often as I would like to.

During her stay, I managed to get her to make my one of my favorites!! It is Pork Tatsuta. "Tatsuta" is typically a fried dish, with corn starch as the batter.  The coating is quite thin, so the dish does not feel very oily or heavy.

<Styling / スタイリング>
Tatsuta is very much a home cooked meal or  a casual dish, and the color itself is not very interesting, the shape itself is not very interesting either.... I chose this table cloth and other props so that it looks a little more stylish than the usual impression of Tatsuta.
立田揚げは色が地味、形も美しいとは言えないもの。あまりオシャレな印象がないお料理なので、スタイリングでオシャレにアレンジできるということをアピールしました。また、ご飯のおかずとして食べるのは個人的に大好きですが、サンドにすることも提案してみました。お好みで、マヨネーズとチリソースと合わせると絶妙！

<Ingredients> Serves 2
- 1pound thinly sliced pork
- 1 clove garlic (grated)
- 1/2 onion (grated)
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbs Sake
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- olive oil
- corn starch

<How to cook>
1) Place garlic, onion, ginger, sake, soy sauce, and sesame oil into a bowl or a zip lock bag. Add pork slices, and mix well by hand. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 2-4 hours.

2) Take out the pork slice one by one and spread it out. Coat each slice with corn starch lightly.

3) In a frying pan, pour enough olive oil to cover the thickness of pork slices. Heat the pan at medium heat, when the oil is hot enough, place the pork slice one by one flat. Pork slices can be placed side by side, but not on top of each other.

4) When the pork slices looks golden, take them out of the pan and place them on paper towel to remove excess oil.

5) Repeat 3) and 4) til all the pork slices are fried.

* When there are too much crumbs from the corn starch coating at the bottom of the frying pan, remove them strainer ladle so that the pork does not get the burnt taste.

We Japanese typically love to eat Tatsuta on its own, or accompanied by a bowl of hot steaming rice. It is also used in lunch boxes since it tastes good at room temperature as well.

Another way to enjoy Tatsuta is a sandwich. Place Tatsuta with some greens, mayo and chili sauce. Very yummy!

Thanks mom for making me my favorite dish!!!! Love you!!!!!