Oven baked tonkatsu sandwich

Katsu sauce: in a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk to fully incorporate.

Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Oven baked pork cutlet: pre-heat your oven to 375 F. (190 C)

Spray a baking pan with baking spray and then add 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil. Tilt the pan to let the oil spread out. You use cooking spray and oil because the cooking spray helps the oil spread all around the pan and not pool up in one spot. 

Cut your pork tenderloin into a shape around the size of your bun. For me, this was around 5 ounces. 

Butterfly each piece by cutting the tenderloin down the middle about two-thirds of the way through. Don't cut all the way. This will allow you to "open" the meat like a book.

Place your butterflied meat on a cutting board and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or something heavy like a cast iron skillet, pound the plastic wrap covered meat until each piece is about a half-inch thick. 

Set up a breading station with three bowls or plates. 

The first bowl will contain your all-purpose flour. The second bowl will contain your egg and buttermilk. Mix to combine. 

The third bowl will contain your Panko breadcrumbs as well as salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.

Dunk and coat each piece of tenderloin in the flour and then the egg mixture, flipping a few times to fully coat. 

Then bread each egg-coated tenderloin and coat it in the bowl with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Make sure to press the crumbs into the pork to fully coat each piece.

Once each piece is fully coated, move to a plate or sheet pan to rest.

When the oven is at 375, add each piece of tenderloin to the prepared sheet pan with that was sprayed with non-stick spray and coated with oil. 

Bake for 20 minutes, stopping halfway to flip each tenderloin over. 

Remove cooked tenderloins from the oven and add them to a plate to rest while you prepare the other ingredients.

Tonkatsu sandwich assembly: place two slices of bread down on a cutting board or clean surface. Add katsu sauce to both slices. 

Top the katsu sauce with a big handful (or half) of the shredded cabbage. Top the cabbage with a fried pork cutlet. 

Drizzle katsu sauce on top of the pork cutlet. Optionally add mayonnaise and/or Dijon mustard to the other slices of bread and use those slices to complete the sandwich. 

For a traditional presentation, cut the crusts off the bread and slice the sandwich in half.

Serve and enjoy.