Before arriving in Japan, neither ramen nor tonkatsu were high on my list of foods I craved, but unfortunately (or fortunately) now that’s no longer the case! I usually don’t eat much pork, except for prosciutto, but other than sushi there was pork in a lot of my favorite things in Japan. So…when in Japan, right?!

Tonkatsu was not something that I ate much of before my trip. I think I had had it in one form/cuisine or another once or twice, but I had never had it like this. We first went to Maisen, situated in an old traditional bathhouse. You can get a tonkatsu sandwich from their little window on the street, or get the plate, served hot, inside the restaurant. The menu explains the many different types of pork that they have, as well as the different cuts available for order. Our dinner was on the later side (by Japanese standards, where dinner at 6pm is normal), so they were sold out of some, but luckily they had our choice of Korobuta (quality pure breed of pork) Filet (the least fatty of the different cuts). Served with pickled vegetables, white rice and miso soup, as well as 3 different sauces to choose from, this fried pork cutlet was strangely light and airy feeling, not heavy at all! I tried all 3 sauces – sweet, spicy, and “special” and couldn’t get enough of it all. Maisen very quickly turned my thoughts around regarding Tonkatsu, and I couldn’t wait to try it again somewhere else.

   

That somewhere else was Tonki. My brother had been talking about wanting to try this place, but mentioned that you have to line up at like 3:30pm for dinner. Seeing as that sounded crazy, we kept pushing this off. We were free one night though and decided to just go check on how bad the line was at 6:30pm on a Saturday. Luckily, we only waited about 30-40 minutes, which was only a problem because of the lack of a/c. Tonki is a family-run operation, and the experience of it all is the biggest reason to go there. Dinner is served in the round, with a 3 sided counter enveloping the open kitchen. While in line you shout your order to the man keeping track of the line from the kitchen. There are only two menu options – a cutlet either with a little fat or one with more fat – we opted for 1 of each between the 2 of us. You can watch the tonkatsu as it progresses down it’s assembly line – from the batter station, to the fryer, to the old grandpa who cuts each cutlet perfectly and then hands it off to the plating station, where the mound of lettuce already sits on the plate waiting for the pork to accompany it, and a dollop of spicy mustard is waiting to be added. Tonki makes their cutlets a little differently than everyone else – they keep them in the fryer for a long time so that the coating is almost separated from the pork – it’s crunchier than the rest. There is less emphasis on sauce here, having only 1 option other than the mustard. These plates are also served with the pickles, white rice, and miso soup, only this miso soup is like no other I’ve ever had…naturally, it is made with pork in it. Rich and delicious, this was AMAZING!! I would go to Tonki, like I said, mostly for the experience, but also for this soup. Don’t get me wrong, the cutlet was delicious (we preferred the one with less fat, by the way) but the miso was unforgettable.

       

Another typical pork-filled meal, albeit not fried, is ramen. Now I’ve already talked about some of the ramen that I’ve had in Japan, but one additional place that deserves mentioning is Gogyo, which offers burnt-miso ramen (called kogashi), as well as the more typical sort. This burnt-miso broth is essentially made by scorching miso in lard…which is of course what gives it it’s intense flavor. The broth is dark in color, and looks almost as if it is charred. Sprouts, cabbage, nori, a fish cake, and some pork accompany this delicious bowl, plus I added an egg, because it’s what I do. I’ve never had a bowl of ramen quite like this, but I can’t recommend it more. It’s extremely rich and yet very hard to stop eating once you’ve started. If you find yourself in Japan (Tokyo or Kyoto) make sure you go to Gogyo!!

Still more food, culture, and a Japanese fashion wrap up to come. I’ll be posting all week so stay current.