There is probably a motivational poster about this

I forgot how messy tonkatsu is to cook. My kitchen looks like a disaster area now.
I remember learning once, in a recipe, how to check if a pan is hot enough: Sprinkle water on it, and the drops should bounce around. Or something like that.
Word of advice: That doesn’t work if the pan has hot oil in it.
We’ll chalk this up as a learning experience.