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WE finished up our first day of work at the orchard in a long time when evening fell. Kon and Sayori reported that they were going to have dinner at our place, so all four of us came home together. We washed our hands, took showers in the renewed bathroom, and changed into fresh sets of clothes.
While Techi and Sayori lounged in the living room, Kon and I made a beeline for the kitchen and began prepping for dinner.
“Mikura, what’s on the menu today?” Kon asked as he sat down at his signature chair.
“Can you guess?” I opened the fridge and took out pork cutlets and eggs. I also fetched panko breadcrumbs from the cabinet.
Seeing these ingredients, Kon announced, “Tonkatsu!”
I grinned at him. “Close, but no cigar. Well, I suppose tonkatsu will be part of it, but the actual dish is a little bit fancier.”
Next, I took out spring onion, Japanese yams, daikon radish sprouts, shredded nori seaweed, and bottled plum pulp. I lined them up in a row on the counter.
Kon inclined his head. “Tonkatsu and salad? Tonkatsu and tororo grated yam? Hmm… I can’t tell at all…”
While Kon was at a loss, I prepared to deep-fry the pork cutlets. I took out a deep-fryer pot, poured in oil, and turned on the stove. I stuck a thermometer into the oil and watched the temperature like a hawk as I explained our dinner today.
“Everyone sweated a lot today, right? There’s you and Sayori, of course, and also Techi, because she’s got a furry tail. That’s why I decided to make something that can help us fend off the summer fatigue. The first thing that came to my mind was katsumabushi don.”
“Katsumabushi?” Kon repeated. “What’s that?”
I thought about a good way to describe it. “There’s a dish called himatsubushi, where you serve chopped kabayaki eel over rice—that’s the type of eel dipped and broiled in semi-sweet soy sauce. Katsumabushi is like the tonkatsu version of that.”
Then, I went into detail about the recipe.
There’s a version of katsudon rice bowl in Nagoya where you dunk deep-fried pork cutlets into Worcestershire sauce. The first step of katsumabushi is making this style of deep-fried pork cutlets. Dunk deep-fried pork cutlets into sweet and salty Worcestershire sauce with plenty of richness and flavors. Cut into bite-sized chunks.
Prepare plenty of minced spring onion and bite-sized chunks of Japanese yam. Serve rice in a rice bowl. Arrange the pork pieces, spring onion, and Japanese yam on top. Sprinkle on shredded nori seaweed and daikon radish sprouts. Garnish with shredded plum pulp at the very top of the pile.
Before you eat this dish, mix all the ingredients on top of the rice. Enjoy other ingredients and rice together with the pork cutlet, which has relatively strong flavors due to the sauce.
I continued, “You can choose to pour tea over it like himatsubushi, but today, we’ll have the normal version. Oh, and a delicious optional topping is silky onsen tamago, which I don’t have at the moment.”
“Wooow!” Kon raised both hands in the air with amazement. “I can’t really imagine what it tastes like, but I’m sure it’s yummy since you’re the chef, Mikura! I’ve never had pork cutlet with that kind of sauce either, so I can’t wait!”
I nodded. “It’s even tastier if you make homemade Worcestershire sauce, but it needs too much time and a bunch of ingredients, so I’ll use the slightly expensive version in the supermarket. As for the pork cutlets, I’ll only have a thin layer of panko breadcrumbs because we’re going to soak it in sauce anyway, so it’s not going to be too crunchy. Meanwhile, for the veggies, you can just cut it up roughly.
“You could choose to cut down time by buying tonkatsu covered in Worcestershire sauce from a restaurant somewhere. I added plum pulp to help with the summer heat, but this is optional. Sprinkling on toasted sesame seeds could be something else to consider.”
As I talked, I began deep-frying the pork cutlets. When the oil was at the right temperature, I added the pork with panko breadcrumbs into the pot. Once it was cooked through and golden brown, I placed them onto an oil drain rack and left them there to cool. Once they weren’t as hot, I dipped them into Worcestershire sauce and cut them into pieces. As for the rest of the steps, they were the exact same as the recipe I’d described.
Once I finished making the rice bowls, I smiled to myself. “All right, food’s ready. It takes some time and effort if you deep-fry your own pork cutlets, but it becomes extremely simple if you buy it from somewhere. You can make all kinds of adjustments to your vegetables and seasoning too. Say, you could add wasabi, or tea, like I mentioned earlier. Since the rest of it is simple… Maybe next time, I’ll get you to make them when we feel like having them again. How does that sound, Kon?”
With shining eyes, Kon nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s do that!” He swiftly grabbed the dry tea towel in the kitchen, washed it thoroughly with tap water, then wrung it firmly. Kon then darted into the living room, quickly tidied up the low table, and wiped it clean. He even prepared a floor cushion for me.
As I thanked him, I set the table with our rice bowls and chilled barley tea. It was now time for dinner.
We voiced our thanks for the food in unison before we mixed up katsumabushi don. Once the distribution was even, I picked up a piece of deep-fried pork, vegetables, and some rice with my chopsticks and carried it into my mouth. The flavorful sauce was the first thing to hit my tongue. Next was the refreshing mix of spring onion, daikon radish sprouts, and Japanese yam. Mixed well within was the unique accent of nori seaweed and sour plum pulp.
I bit down. The rich, savory umami of the pork seeped out along with its juices. The varied textures of the vegetables were delightful. The delicate balance of aromas was simply exquisite. I couldn’t put my bowl down once I began—since the ingredients had been cut into small pieces, nothing could stop me.
Each part of the dish served a different role. The pork and Japanese yam helped me replenish energy. The plum pulp provided citric acid and salt. And of course, having vegetables of any sort was always good for you. The refreshing ingredients paired with the pork also meant that it didn’t taste too greasy or overwhelmingly for your stomach.
It could fend off the summer heat fatigue, it was easy to stomach even if you were already fatigued, and it was still absolutely delicious. On top of that, it was simple to make.
This was the paragon of summer food. Therefore…
“Give me seconds,” Techi stated.
“Seconds!” Kon yelled.
“Seconds, please!” Sayori exclaimed.
…even when I heard such requests from the three gluttons, I could rest assured.
I stood up from my seat. “I hear you loud and clear. I’ll get to it right away.”
Together with Kon, who’d stood up with me, I went to the kitchen. The opportunity for “next time” had come very soon, and Kon was pumped up to take over as the main chef. We got to work without a moment’s delay.