Yuri!!! on Ice was one of my favorite anime from the last 2 years, if not my favorite. It had so many things that I love in an anime: beautiful art, well developed characters, and a good story. The main character of the story is Yuuri Katsuki, a figure skater from Japan, who despite having success in his career up to this point, had a disastrous end to the previous season, and is wondering if he should retire from the sport.
His long-time idol is Victor Nikiforov, a Russian skater who is always winning his competitions and is extremely charismatic. Yuuri first saw Victor skate when he was a child and has followed his career and gained motivation from him (from a distance, as they had never officially met) ever since. In the beginning of the series we see Yuuri leaving a competition dejected after a very low score. He meets Victor on the way out of the venue, and Victor, seeing him watching him, thinks he is a fan and wants a photo. He offers to take a commemorative photo with him, but Yuuri turns away, embarrassed, and goes back to his home town in Japan, where he is planning on thinking through his future options.
Due to some little girls who recorded Yuuri skating Victor's winning performance from the previous tournament, the video goes viral, leading to Victor seeing the video. Victor had also been at a turning-point in his career, not quite sure what he was going to do to continue to grow as a skater. Plus, at 28 he is nearing the age when many skaters stop performing professionally. Intrigued by Yuuri's passionate performance he decides to go to Japan and coach Yuuri for the upcoming season.
This is the catalyst for the rest of the show's development. I loved each episode of this show, and came back each week to watch the simulcast as soon as it aired. I loved the way Yuuri and Victor interacted, and the natural way their relationship progressed through the series. I definitely recommend this show!
In the beginning of the series we learn that Katsudon (aka Pork Cutlet Bowl) is Yuuri's favorite dish. His family owns a Japanese Bath House that serves it, and he eats it a lot. When Victor first comes to Japan to coach Yuuri we learn that Yuuri originally treated it as a victory dinner, but since he returned he has been eating it too much and Victor questions why he is eating it all the time when he just lost the competition (Victor can be harsh with his criticism, but it is usually motivating enough for Yuuri to learn and grow).
As mentioned above, Katsudon is a breaded Pork cutlet (usually fried) served on top of rice with a broth mixture, and an omelet cooked on top. It is traditionally a very rich dish, so I can see how eating it on a daily basis would cause you to gain weight.
When deciding which recipes to feature in my anime food blog series I definitely wanted to feature Yuuri on Ice somehow, and veganizing Katsudon seemed like a fun and tasty venture. My version has less fat, as the cutlets are made out of a wheat-based meat called Seitan. This recipe was found in Miyoko Schinner's book The Homemade Vegan Pantry. The specific recipe I used is called "Un-pork," and I think it did a good job for a substitution for the pork.
As inspiration for the recipe in general I found this recipe online. The author of the original recipe baked the Pork Cutlet instead of frying it, which also cut down the fat and calorie content of the recipe significantly. For the egg I used the Vegan Egg, a product that came out a few years ago by Follow Your Heart. It is the most convincing egg replacer I have found yet, and I think the results in this recipe were very tasty. Read on for the recipe and directions.
Katsudon
Ingredients
1 C. Steamed Japanese Rice
2 Un-pork Patties from The Homemade Vegan Pantry (or your choice of Pork-style vegan meat)
Salt and Pepper
1 C. Panko/Bread Crumbs
1 T. Vegetable Oil
1-2 T. Flour for dusting
1/2 Onion, thinly sliced
1 C. Shiitake Soup Broth (you will need approx. 1/2 C. of dried Shiitake mushrooms)
2 T. Sake
2 T. Mirin
2 T. Soy Sauce
2 tsp. Sugar
Directions
1. Make the Shiitake broth. Take the dried mushrooms and pour hot water over them. Leave them to re-hydrate off to the side of your work station until it is time to use them. The re-hydration process really only takes about 15 min if you use very hot water from a tea kettle.
2. Next you will put the measured out bread crumbs into a large skillet with about 1 T. of oil to brown them over medium heat. You will want to stir them frequently and make sure they are evenly distributed in the pan, so that they cook evenly and don't burn. Once the pan gets hot and they have been cooking for a few minutes the browning will progress rapidly, so keep an eye on them.
3. While the bread crumbs are browning put your rice on to cook. I used Japanese short grain white rice because I like that the rice is sticky. It helps to absorb the liquid of the broth later on in the process, and keeps the dish moist. Follow the directions on the package of your choice of rice, but the rice should be done within 10-20 minutes from when the water comes to a boil and you reduce the heat and simmer.
4. The bread crumbs are done when they reach a light brown color like seen above. Remove them from the pan to stop the cooking process, and leave in a bowl until you are ready for the dredging and cooking of the un-pork cutlets.
5. Slice the onion very thinly and put aside in a bowl.
6. Get out your pork cutlets. Sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper to taste, and keep to the side.
7. Next is the dredging stage. Mix up one egg worth of the Vegan Egg, and put in a shallow dish, big enough to dunk the un-pork into. In a separate shallow dish put the flour in, and in a third shallow dish spread out the browned panko crumbs.
Dip both sides of the cutlets into the flour, and then put them into the Vegan Egg, and also coat both sides. When the cutlets are coated place them into the bread crumbs and cover completely, as shown above.
When the cutlets have been coated place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes on each side, so that both sides get crispy.
Once the cutlets are cooked remove them from the oven and slice into thin 1 in. thick slices.
8. Prepare the broth by getting out our broth ingredients, including the previously prepped Shiitake broth. For the shiitake broth, remove the now hydrated mushrooms and keep aside. We can use those in the dish later on. Mix all of the broth ingredients together in the measurements above.
9. Heat up a deep skillet or dutch oven on medium high on the stove top. We are going to do each serving separately for easy serving. Pour in half of the broth, and then add half of the sliced onions. Cook the onions until they are translucent, and then add one of the sliced cutlets.
10. Mix up 1 egg's worth of the Vegan Egg and pour over the cutlet and broth, making sure it is evenly distributed. Place a lid over the mixture and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes until the egg has cooked as shown below. The egg should be the consistency of a cooked omelette.
11. To serve, get out a large bowl and place 1/2 C. of cooked rice on the bottom of the bowl. Place half of the re-hydrated mushrooms on top of the rice. You can either put a side dish like greens, as I have shown below, on the side of the dish, to serve as an accompaniment, or you can put it on top of the rice. Gently slide the cooked cutlet, sauce and egg on top of the rice, so that it is completely covering the rice.
Now you can cook the second serving. To keep the first serving warm until eating put a lid over it or cover with a towel.
This dish was delicious. I tried it with some soy sauce on top, and then I drizzled some ketchup on the top for some added flavor. I like ketchup on tofu scrambles and vegan eggs, so I think it adds an extra yummy flavor, but if you prefer to keep this traditional leave the ketchup off. It was delicious both ways. For adults serve this with a little cup of sake.
I can definitely see how Yuuri and Victor would love this dish. I have seen it in a few anime, and there are a number of recipes online, so clearly it is a much loved entree. Try it out and let me know how you like it!
