May 18, 2012

Tare Katsu Don/タレカツ丼


As part of supper last night, I made tonkatsu (breaded port cutlets), using more than 500 g pork thigh, hoping that I could have katsudon for lunch today.
Unfortunately, my children had more tonkatsu than I had anticipated, leaving only three pieces uneaten.
昨日の夕飯には、豚の腿肉(ももにく)を500 g以上使って、豚カツを作りました。今日の昼ご飯にはカツ丼を食べたいなあ、と思って。
残念なことに、子供たちが思ったより豚カツを食べ、たった3切れしか残しませんでした。


I suddenly changed my mind and decided to make "tare katsudon", instead of regular, "tamago toji katsudon".  Tare katsudon is a specialty of Niigata city, Niigata prefecture. 
Tare = Sauce (combination of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin (plus sugar, sake, etc.)) in this case)
Tamago = Egg
Toji = < Tojiru (to close)

I search for a good tare katsudon recipe, and found them all too sweet for my taste.  So I decided to make it my own way, using a 4:1:1 ratio for dashi, soy sauce, and mirin, plus a pinch of sugar.

Thus,
50 ml water
A pinch of instant dashi
12 ml soy sauce
12 ml mirin
A pinch of sugar
急に考えを変え、普段の「卵とじカツ丼」の代わりに「タレカツ丼」を作ることにしました。タレカツ丼は新潟県新潟市の名物です。

良さそうなタレカツ丼のレシピを探したのですが、どれも私の口には甘過ぎるので、自分なりの方法で作ることにしました。出汁、しょう油、みりんを4:1:1の割合にして、砂糖を一つまみ足して。

というわけで、
水 50 ml
出汁 ひとつまみ
しょう油 12 ml
みりん 12 ml

Simple yet very tasty!
簡単ですが、とても美味しいです!

Edited to add: Preferably, to make tonkatsu for use in tare katsudon, use pork thigh rather than pork loin or tenderloin. Cut pork thigh into thin slices 7-8 mm thick. As you can see from the images of tare katsudon, each cutlet is dipped in the "tare" without being cut into smaller pieces, unlike in regular "tamago toji katsudon".
追記: できれば、タレカツ丼に使う豚カツを作るには、豚のロースやヒレではなく、腿肉を使います。腿肉を薄く7~8ミリ厚に切ります。 タレカツ丼の画像で分かるように、通常の「卵とじカツ丼」とは異なり、カツは小さく切らずにタレに漬けます。

7 comments:

  1. Your children must have enjoyed your tare katsudon. I recently had ロースカツセットat Saboten, located in Vancouver. Have you been to their original location in Shinjuku?
    The one in Canada is a fast food version but still run by the same chain.

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  2. Hiroyuki, this is the way I will prepare tonkatsu next time (I only sprinkle it with salt and pepper). It sounds delicious! I find this dish so addictive... We always eat much much more than we should. It is like korokke: no need to be hungry ;-)
    The funniest thing it that I must have made tonkatsu at leaast 20 times and never had the time to take a photo and post it: it simply disappears too quickly and when I see it on the table I forget about the blog!

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  3. okasan: I was the only one who enjoyed the tare katsudon for lunch today, and it was much better than I had imagined. It's more like tendon, where you dip pieces of tempura in a pot of "tare" and place them on top of hot rice.

    Saboten? Sorry, I didn't even know the name of the shop.

    As I mentioned in a thread on eGullet, I liked Sankin 三金 in Yotsuya, not far from Shinjuku, when I lived in Tokyo.

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  4. Sissi: I'd like to see your tonkatsu!

    For the record, I really have never made tonkatsu to make katsudon. Katsudon is always something that I make with store-bought tonkatsu or leftover home-made tonkatsu.

    I'll provide some more information about tare katsudon later.

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  5. How funny - we had pork chops yesterday also! But we grilled ours. You've inspired me to take a picture of them tonight (we're having more of the same).

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  6. I wonder what is pork tigh. It is interesting that there are different cutting methods in different countries. Usually german butchers cut parts of the pig bottom (upper tighs), neck or the back for cutlets or Schnitzel.
    http://www.fleischtheke.info/images/stories/food/schweinefleischteilstuecke.gif
    Cutlet can be made from 4, 6 , 7. 12 is called Schnitzel. Part 7 is very tender and lean. Usually I buy this part.

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  7. Nancy Heller: Grilled pork chops sound healthier than deep-fried tonkatsu!

    Kiki: Thanks for the link. I'm really not sure what momo niku 腿肉 ももにく refers to.
    Here is one clue here:
    http://www.peatshop.com/smoke/smoked-cya-syu-momo.htm

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