Who would want to make Tonkatsu for 40 years, you might ask?
This guy…
And he’s darn good at it.
Tonight, Brad and I went to a Tonkatsu restaurant in Yoga. Tonkatsu is basically breaded and fried pork drizzled with a delicious sauce and served with a side of fresh cabbage. It is SO delicious.
The surprising thing is the amount of care that can be put into such a simple meal. I took many more pictures than I was able to fit here, but I tried to pick the best ones.
Out of their modest restaurant, the man and his wife make some of the best tonkatsu around. The fanciest piece of equipment they use is a grinder for sesame seeds. Everything else remains traditional.
We ordered our meals: katsudon and tonkatsu. Katsudon is tonkatsu, sliced, cooked in sauce and egg.
Every step of the process is carefully executed. From pounding the meat on the wooden stump (the same one he’s used for 40 years), to coating the pork cutlets with bread crumbs, gently pressing them into the meat in the exact same way for each order.
I could have watched him make tonkatsu for hours. His shy face never faced the camera, but you can see in the deep dimples in his cheeks and crows feet at the corners of his eyes that he loves his work.
These experiences are what I love about Japan. It’s like watching my Grandma Smith make fried chicken or when my Grandpa Smith used to make gravy and biscuits. Simple. Delicious. Worthy of pride.
More to come on this experience…
