A Love Affair with Tonkatsu
Image taken from www.wako-group.co.jp
Today, I am going to introduce to you one of my most favourite foods, the Tonkatsu.
It is a deep fried pork cutlet that comes in 2 different cuts. One is the regular fillet called rosu (ロース), while the other is a lean cut called hire( ヒレ).
It can be served in many different ways and is generally served as a meal with rice, miso soup, and shredded cabbage with sesame sauce, or vinaigrette. Other ways of serving it includes it as a sandwich filling which is not usually found outside Japan, known as a Katsu-sando (Tonkatsu sandwich).
Different areas in Japan enjoy different types of katsu. Nagoya is famous for its miso katsu which is tonkatsu served with a miso based sauce. Tokyo serves up a westernized mille-feuille katsu while Hakone gives it its own twist by creating their own tofu katsu.
For those of you visiting Japan and dropping by Akihabara, there is a shop that sells fantastic menchi-katsu, or minced meat katsu. The approximate address is 〒101-0021 Tōkyō-to, Chiyoda-ku, Sotokanda, 3 Chome−12, and you can’t absolutely miss it. It is a 1 minute walk south from Mandarake’s Akihabara store. Prices are less than 1000 yen and instead of the regular miso soup, the shop provides ton-jiru instead.
Katsu in Japan is an art. Shops are dedicated to selling them, and generally shops that mix katsu with other assorted foods are looked down upon by katsu enthusiasts. Eating at these places would generally cost 3000 yen and above per pax for a normal meal, but I give you my personal guarantee that it is worth the price that you pay!
Katsu places in Singapore are quite common, but it is still hard to find good places that serve them, other than restaurants such as Tonkatsu by Ma Maison which is a speciality restaurant, and Ginza Bairin. The Best 2 places in my opinion are Ma Maison and Tonkichi, hands down. No contest. Tampopo comes in close, but can be inconsistent at times, hence the lower ranking. Saboten’s katsu is just too thin. Don’t get me wrong over here. The flavouring is good, but it just does not have the thickness to go along with it. Yayoiken and Ginza Bairin serve up good katsu, and is suitable for people on a budget. If you can, go to Ginza Bairin’s shop in Ginza, Tokyo. What they serve there beats everything above that I have mentioned. Its just that amazing.
With that in mind, if anyone is up for katsu, please invite me along, and if you guys need any recommendation, do feel free to approach me as well!
Written by Li Xu
Edited by Jessel