Will Miss #541 - genkatsu

Some people like an enormous hunk of meat that they can sink their teeth into. I'm not one of them. The truth is that my bite is uneven and my mouth is also small. I have difficulty tearing things off and chewing well. If my parents hadn't been so poor, I guess I would have had some orthodontic work done and I'd be able to bite off a hunk of animal flesh with the best of them. At any rate, due to my issues, I prefer things that are softer and easier to manage.

I didn't actually count them. I took their word for it.

Genkatsu is a pork cutlet restaurant that has a special way of making their tonkatus. They don't take a slab of dead pig. No, they layer 25 thin sheets of ex-swine and bread and fry it for eight minutes for your enjoyment. The result is very tender, juicy, and flavorful. I don't know if those layers add to the flavor profile or not, but they seem to give the tongue more of a chance to linger on the meat - of course, that may just be my experience because I'm probably swallowing things without chewing them as well as I might and releasing their juices.

Beyond this specialty way of offering tonkatsu, they give you choices of side dishes, miso soup type, and sauces in a way which is not especially common for set meals. They let me choose yuzu koshoo sauce so, you know, I'm going to love them.

I miss genkatsu and their lovely customizable sets and easy to manage multi-layered pork cutlets.

Will Miss #300 - tonkatsu

There is a type of cuisine in Japan called "yoshoku", which is influenced by Western cooking practices and was developed during the Meiji restoration in the 1800's in Japan. At that time, the emperor ended Japan's isolation and incorporated aspects of Western culture into Japanese life. One of the many results of that is tonkatsu, or pork cutlet. It is a piece of pork (or sometimes chicken) which is breaded and fried, served with cabbage, rice, and often miso soup. It is served with a unique sauce which is slightly sweet and spicy. The entire meal is a wonderful combination of Japanese and Western food that is easy for Western palates to accept.

Though I tried tonkatsu in America (prepared at a Japanese restaurant), I found if very inadequate next to what I've had in Japan, and I'm going to miss it.