Wagyu Katsu Sandwich (2023)

Wagyu Katsu Sandwich

Wagyu Katsu Sandwich is the English name for a dish called Gyukatsusando (牛カツサンド) in Japanese. Gyu literally means “beef” (as opposed to ton for “pork”), katsu is the Japanese abbreviation of “cutlet,” and sando is the Japanese abbreviation for “sandwich.” As its name implies, it’s a sandwich that’s made with a deep-fried beef cutlet.

It’s a simple dish, but the thing that makes it so unique (and why it commands such a high price in restaurants) is the use of high-grade Japanese beef. Unlike its western counterparts, Wagyu (和牛), or “Japanese beef,” is has a ton of intramuscular marbling with fat that has a very low melting point. This makes the meat melt-in-your-mouth like butter. When fried and stuffed between fluffy Japanese bread, you get a sandwich that’s soft on the outside, crisp towards the middle, and explosively tender and juicy in the center.

Why this recipe works

• It’s all about the beef. Whether it’s roast beef or a steak sandwich, beef is almost always sliced before being added to a sandwich. That’s because the connective tissue in a typical steak makes it difficult to bite cleanly through it. An A5 grade Wagyu sirloin from Japan is so tender that this problem disappears, which makes it possible to stuff the whole crispy cutlet into the sandwich.
• To get the katsu crisp and golden brown on the outside and rare in the center. I start with steaks that come right out of the refrigerator(rather than letting them come up to room temperature as you normally would do when grilling a steak). Then, they’re fried at 375 degrees F, which is significantly hotter than usual. This quickly browns the breading, while warming the center through enough to start melting the fat but not so much that it cooks it through.
• Premium Wagyu from Japan has a large amount of intramuscular fat, which is what makes it so delicious, but it can be pretty rich, which is why my homemade Katsu Sauce for this is tangy and spicy, to help balance things out.

What are the Ingredients for a Wayu Sandwich?

Like most Japanese dishes, there aren’t a ton of components, but the quality of each ingredient is what makes or breaks this sandwich.

Bread

• Shokupan – Also known as “Japanese milk bread” outside of Japan, Shokupan is a sandwich bread that’s light and fluffy, and yet it has a springy texture that turns dense and chewy (in a good way) as you bite into it. This not only provides a contrast to the crisp cutlet, but it’s also durable enough to not fall apart as you’re eating the sandwich. Outside of Japan, it’s sold in many Asian bakeries, but if you can’t find it, any moist sandwich bread with some structure like Pain de Mie will work.

Sauce

• Sake – Sake is a brewed beverage made from rice, and it contains a high concentration of amino acids that stimulate umami taste receptors on your tongue. This gives foods it’s added to the savory taste of umami. Since it’s boiled, the alcohol will evaporate as will any finer nuances present in more expensive sake. This is why I recommend using a relatively inexpensive sake. The one exception is that you should never cook with anything labeled “cooking sake,” that’s because these are typically loaded with salt, preservatives, and “flavor enhancers,” which can throw off the seasoning in recipes.
• Black Pepper – Black pepper and beef are a match made in heaven, and I like to load my katsu sauce up with coarse ground pepper for this sandwich.
• Onion Powder and Onion Powder– The two aromatics I add to my sauce for flavor. You can grate fresh onions and garlic as well, but I prefer using the powder as it keeps the sauce from getting chunky.
• Worcestershire Sauce – This is the base for the sauce and provides the tartness and blend of spices that give it the taste of katsu sauce. I use an ordinary bottle of Lea & Perrins. I don’t recommend using Japanese Worcestershire sauce as they tend to be much saltier than the British kind.
• Ketchup – This is where the sauce gets its sweet fruity flavor from, and it also gives it some body.
• Honey – Added for sweetness and thickness. Use mild honey that doesn’t have a strong flavor.
• Whole Grain Mustard – The mustard isn’t spicy in the hot sense, but it does add the pleasant spicy taste of mustard, and the seeds give the sauce a beautiful texture. I use the French brand Maille.
• Oyster Sauce – The oyster sauce adds salt and umami to the sauce. I use the Thai brand MegaChef. An alternative would be soy sauce, but oyster sauce is sweet and less salty than soy sauce, so you’ll want to reduce the amount if you use soy sauce.

Beef Katsu

• Wagyu Sirloin – This is the most important ingredient to get right. I used an A5 grade Wagyu Sirloin from Japan. It has no sinew or gristle and is pink in color when viewed from a distance because of the fine intramuscular marbling of fat. Beef that’s marketed as “Wagyu” is often not from Japan, and due to cross-breeding, it does not have the same taste or texture as Japanese beef. If you need teeth to bite through it, it’s probably not a good choice for this sandwich. One possible alternative is to pound a dry-aged filet mignon out, so it’s 3/4 of an inch thick and about the size of your sandwich bread. It won’t have the same taste or flavor, but it should be tender enough.
• Salt and Pepper – The sauce is more tangy and sweet than savory, so it’s important to season the beef generously before breading it.
• Flour and Egg – When breading Japanese katsu, the flour, and egg act as a glue that helps the panko stick to the cutlet.
• Panko – Panko literally means “powdered bread” in Japanese and is a coarse breadcrumb that’s made from the white part of sandwich bread. If you can’t find it near you, you can pulse some sandwich bread in a food processor to make it at home.

How to make a Wagyu Sandwich

For the homemade katsu sauce, you want to boil the sake, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder together in a small pot. This burns off the alcohol while drawing out the flavor of the spices and aromatics into the liquid. You can tell it’s ready when the bubbles start getting big and shiny.

Next, the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, honey, mustard, and oyster sauce go into the pot, and the mixture is brought to a boil again. Be careful not to overcook the sauce. Otherwise, the vinegar in the Worcestershire sauce and ketchup will evaporate, leaving the sauce tasting flat.

For the Katsu, I like starting with cold beef straight out of the fridge. It will warm up a bit while you’re working with it, and I like the beef to be as cold as possible so that it stays rare as we fry it.

(Video) Wagyu Katsu Sando

Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Then dust every surface with an even coating of flour. The breadcrumbs will not stick to any spots you’ve missed, and if the flour is too thick, it will buckle up and flake off after you fry it, so it’s important to be thorough and then pat off any excess flour.

Next, you want to coat the steaks in an even layer of egg. Again, be sure you don’t miss any spots.

Finally, these get dropped into the panko and gently rolled around to coat every surface with the breadcrumbs. You can pile the panko on top and pat it down lightly to encourage the panko to stick, but you don’t want to crush the crumbs. You also need to handle the cutlet with care once it’s coated, or the panko will come off.

To fry the Wagyu Katsu, you need to preheat a few inches of oil to 375 degrees F (190 C). This is hotter than usual, but it’s how we get the outside nice and brown while maintaining a rare interior. Depending on the thickness and temperature of the beef, it will take anywhere from a minute to a minute and a half to get a cutlet that’s rare in the center. You can fry it for longer if you want it medium-rare, but I don’t recommend cooking Wagyu to well-done as most of the fat will render out, leaving you with very little meat.

When the katsu is done, transfer it to a wire rack to drain, and then immediately drizzle both sides of each cutlet with a generous amount of Katsu Sauce. It’s important to do this while the cutlets are still sizzling; otherwise, the sauce will make the crust soggy.

Assemble the sandwich by toasting the bread and then putting each cutlet between two slices of bread. In Japan, they cut the crusts off, which makes the sandwich look nice, but I prefer leaving the crusts on.

Other Japanese Sandwiches

• Tonkatsu Sandwich
• Karaage Sandwich
• Japanese Egg Sandwich
• Fruit Sandwich