Tonkatsu

Tonkatsu, though not invented until the 1930s, is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It consists of a breaded deep-fried pork cutlet, and is generally served with shredded cabbage, white rice, and miso soup. It is eaten with a brown sauce, the ingredients of which vary from place to place but which has a taste close to Worcestershire sauce. Some people also like to eat their tonkatsu with a spicy yellow mustard.

When ordering tonkatsu, one usually specifies whether a hire (lean) or rosu (fatty) cut is desired. The very finest tonkatsu is made from kuro buta (black pig) from Kagoshima prefecture in southernmost Japan.