Is pork meal at Hakata Tonton heavy on the stomach?

Posted on May 21, 2012 in Hiroko's Blog

Even though Hakata Tonton specializes pork, many of which uses pork belly and pork knuckles, the meat is prepared and served in the Japanese way – with plenty of vegetables and very little or no added oil. Everyone leaves the restaurant with satisfied stomach, but not stuffed with heavy, greasy meal. The photo is one of the must-order pork nabe, hot pot, dishes. Thinly sliced pork belly (look at the beautiful, very fresh color of the meat) are placed on top of mound of moyashi, mung bean sprouts (they are also very crisp fresh and properly cleaned; these sprouts spoil quickly) in a shallow cooking pot. There is little stock is added to the very bottom of the pot. The pot is carried to each table like this, being covered with a paper lid, which is then placed on a table top burner. While the hot pot was cooking, we savored pork knuckles (grilled and basted with yuzu kosho) and fried oysters over beer, wine and sake (we did a toast with a glass of beer at the beginning of our meal – this is a Japanese ritual). We transferred a portion of cooked pork belly and mung bean sprouts to our individual bowls and enjoyed them with a slightly spicy special sauce. Spiciness came from Szechwan peppercorn. I will recreate this dish at home sometime soon, then will post the recipe.