Japanese Pork Chops Saboden & Kitaro / 日式炸豬排 勝博殿&樹太老
Japanese Pork Chops Saboden & Kitaro
◎English text by Peng Hsin-yi
◎Photos by Yang Wei-ren
Kaohsiung offers a variety of international cuisines. The crunchy golden breading and juicy flavor of Japanese pork chops (tonkatsu) is a delicious dish that melts in your mouth. This popular dish can be found in two highly recommended restaurants located in Kaohsiung.
Saboden
Saboden is a tonkatsu restaurant chain that originated in the Tokyo district of West Sinjuku, Japan. The tonkatsu dishes at Saboden are prepared with premium tenderloin pork. It is then cut into thick pieces and coated with layers of breading for a crispy, crunchy texture, sealing the juiciness of the pork inside. It is a mouthwatering combination that is hard to resist.
If you visit Saboden, be sure to try the restaurant's popular signature crispy tenderloin dish. The tenderloin is the part of the pork that is closest to the spine. It is almost completely fat free and full of flavorful juicy meat. Saboden's pork comes from wheat fed pigs that have matured for 210 days. This combination creates a juicy, fine grained meat. While customers are waiting for their tonkatsu, they then mix the freshly ground black and white sesame paste with the store's freshly made tonkatsu sauce. This tasty sauce combination highlights the flavor of the pork.
Another specialty at Saboden is the "layered pork chop", a delicious dish that can't be found at any other tonkatsu restaurant. This unique tonkatsu is made by taking a loin chop, slicing it paper thin, putting one slice of thin pork on top of another, making the lean parts and marbled parts evenly distributed in one chop. It is then breaded with the same crunchy coating and fried. The result is a soft, tasty texture unlike regular tonkatsu, with juices flowing through the layers of thin pork. Another fabulous dish featured at Saboden that should not be missed.
Kitaro
Kitaro is a Japanese restaurant that is attractively priced and welcomes everyone to try its Teishoku (set meal) menu. Since tonkatsu is the most popular item, Kitaro has created quite a few variations to satisfy dinners' different preferences. Tonkatsu in Kitaro starts with a pork chop that is two centimeters (almost a full inch) thick. It is then smothered in your choice of traditional tonkatsu sauce, sesame sauce, freshly ground white radish sauce, miso sauce or curry sauce
The most popular item at Kitaro is the cheese-stuffed tonkatsu. This is made with the same thick-sliced pork chop, but with a delicious cheese filling. At Kitaro they believe that the best tonkatsu is the original pork flavor coated with a crunchy breaded coating. The restaurant does not use any kind of marinade or seasonings on the cheese-stuffed pork however, the creamy cheesy flavor and the gooey strings of cheese is a delight and a hit with its patrons.
日式炸豬排 勝博殿&樹太老
◎文．攝影／楊為仁
金黃色的酥脆麵衣底下是軟嫩多汁的厚切豬排，多層次的完美口感，伴隨而來的是豬排的鮮腴美味，一口咬下去，還可聽到卡滋卡滋的聲響，日式炸豬排滋味誘人。
勝博殿
源自日本東京西新宿的「勝博殿」，選用超柔軟的豬腰內肉，外表覆以酥脆的麵衣，外香酥、內多汁的絕佳口感，教人不動心也難。
來到「勝博殿」，一定要嚐嚐人氣招牌─酥嫩腰內豬排，幾乎沒有油脂的腰內肉，是選用飼養期長達210天的熟成麥豬，肉質相當細膩，食用前，先將碗內的黑、白芝麻用山椒棒槌搗碎，倒入獨門豬排醬汁，豬排沾醬吃，味道更鮮腴。
千層錦炸豬排是「博勝殿」另一道有別於坊間的日式炸豬排，業者將原本較有嚼勁，油花分布不均勻的里肌豬排裁切成薄片，再以層層薄疊工法，如錦緞般交錯編織油脂和瘦肉，再裹上麵包粉酥炸，口感綿密鬆軟，肉汁在層次間流動，擴散在唇齒之間，喜歡嚐鮮的客人千萬別錯過。
樹太老
標榜平民價位的「樹太老」，以日式定食起家，最能代表日式定食的炸豬排自然不可或缺，光種類就有芝麻醬、蘿蔔泥、咖哩醬排、味噌醬和炸起司等豬排，選用平均厚度２公分的上等豬里肌，香醇鮮嫩。
人氣指標炸起司豬排是夾有起司的厚豬排，為了呈現它的原味，每塊酥炸的豬排均未經醃漬，多了起司的炸豬排，不但可以吃到酥脆鮮滑多汁的炸豬排，還有香濃的起司味，口味更加馥郁，更有拉絲口感。