Japanese Food Tips

Tonkatsu is a very famous Japanese food. It seems that it was first made by a restaurant in Tokyo during the Meiji period (1868-1912). "Ton" means pork and "katsu" means cutlet. What is the difference between cutlet and tonkatsu. Cutlets are fried but tonkatsu are deep fried. Cutlets use fine breadcrumbs, but tonkatsu uses rather coarse bread crumbs (panko). The pork used in tonkatsu can be loins (rōsu-katsu) or fillets (hire-katsu). People who care about calories often choose pork fillets which have little fat. Tonkatsu is served with shredded cabbage as a garnish. Tonkatsu sauce (based on Worcestershire sauce and tomato) is poured over tonkatsu. Tonkatsu is widely eaten at home (homemade cooking or ready-made meals) or at restaurants in Japan. The restaurants include many tonkatsu specialty restaurants. Around Aichi Prefecture (central Japan including Nagoya), many restaurants provide sauce based on miso, which is quite unique. Because tonkatsu is delicious, why not try it when you are in Japan?