Tonkichi, Singapore

5 May 2010

If I remember correctly, there are two restaurants where I always go for my dining experiences almost every month. One is a Chinese restaurant called Peking Restaurant at Taman Sutera Utama, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The other one is a Japanese Restaurant called Tonkichi, in Singapore. Both restaurants share a common trait. They do justice to the PORK dishes.

I will not forget the braised pig trotter and Dongpo pork from Peking Restaurant. The braised pig trotter is certainly melted-in-mouth tender. Dongpo pork can be melted-in-mouth tender if you order the FATTEST pork belly. Both dishes taste absolutely great, I will not forget the taste. The dishes always move me and I always have a bit of tears in my eyes when I eat them. The dishes always remind me, whenever I am in overseas for work, my parents are waiting for me in Johor Bahru to return home safely and then my family and I will gather around in Peking Restaurant to dine and enjoy the dishes together, especially the two pork dishes. I always enjoy the two pork dishes. Both dishes are Chinese-home-style-cooked just like the old recipe passed down from grandmothers to mothers; my parents know the methods to cook them and they always do a good job to satisfy me, their glutton son. However the chef of Peking Restaurant just do much better than them and he prefect the dishes.

There is an interesting story how Dongpo Pork was created: During the southern Song Dynasty in China, there was exiled minister who was also a poet by the name of Su Dongpo. One day Su tried to cook his pork belly by braising it in the wok. However an old friend of his came to visit him for a Chinese-Chess game. As Su was so engrossed in the game, he had forgotten his pork belly. At the same time the villagers brought some bottles of wine to Su and they left them to his servant. The servant reported Su about the wine and the cooking progress of the pork belly. At the same time Su was playing chess and he never paid attention what his servant told him. So he answered to his servant: “put it in, put it in”. Su meant to his servant to put the wine in his house. But the servant mistakenly added the wine into the braised pork belly, allowed it to simmer and absorbed the flavor from the wine. As the aroma of the braised pork drifted towards Su, he stopped his game and identified the aroma came from his wok. He tasted the pork belly and it melted in his mouth leaving a sweet taste behind. He also found that the pork belly was not greasy to be consumed. Thus Dongpo Pork was found and the recipe spread from Huangzhou where it was first created, to all parts of China, and subsequently to the Chinese community living overseas.

Source from http://www.cookingtrek.com/the-story-of-su-dongpo/

Back to my “eat-venture”, that day was my last paper for my exams. It coincidently fell on first Wednesday of the month, which was also the “Tonkichi-Day”. “Tonkichi-Day” is the day Tonkichi Restaurant offers 15% discount on the total bill. Me, again a hungry-man-who-tried-to-"smoke"-his-answers-in-his-exam-answer-scripts decided not to give up this golden opportunity to celebrate the day he called “The-Exams-are-OVER!” So I went Tonkichi for my lunch.

 Tonkichi is another restaurant that do justice to the pork. This restaurant is famous for authentic tonkatsu, the breaded deep-fried pork cutlet in Japanese. I ordered the Kurobuta Kata Ruso Katsu, deep fried black pork shoulder loin in Japanese. It was served with miso soup, rice, watermelons for dessert and Japanese hot green tea. I topped up extra S$4 for Tonjiru.

I was given a set of mortar and pestle with the sesame seeds in the mortar from the friendly waitress. I grinded the sesame seeds and I pour the thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce into the mortar and mixed with karashi (Japanese mustard). The Japanese Worcestershire sauce is made from the purees apples and tomatoes, and then matured with sugar, salt, spices, starch and caramel. The mixture of the sauce was eaten with the tonkatsu.

My dish was served and the presentation of my dish looked good. It consisted of a bowl of mochigome, pork cutlet with cabbages and the special miso soup with porks, bean curds, carrots and other ingredients. The watermelons will serve after the main course.

My pork cutlet was tasty. I expected nothing less from Tonkichi. This dish was different from what I mention earlier in Peking Restaurant. The pork from Peking Restaurant was melted-in-mouth tender, which made the pork unique. This pork cutlet is a bit chewy in contrast. It did not mean the pork was not tender. It was tender, but it was not melted-in-mouth tender. This was because the meat was from the shoulder loin, which was a bit tougher than the other parts of the pork. I needed to chew my pork cutlet. When I chewed my pork cutlet, the fats in the meat flowed out and melted in my mouth. The natural sweetness and a bit of saltiness of the fats lingered in my mouth. The bread coat also added crispiness to the port cutlet. These were what made tonkatsu from Tonkichi so famous in Singapore. The crispiness of the bread coat, the natural sweetness and a bit of saltiness of the fats from the pork harmonized together to create a balance in taste, which is not overwhelming by each other. They complemented with each other and perfected the taste of the tonkatsu.

Tonjiru consists of porks, bean curds, carrots and other ingredients. It was tasty but was a bit saltier and more body than ordinary miso soup. In my opinion I believed Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes which is a common ingredient found in Japanese cuisine) was the stock for this miso soup and made the soup special. Katsuobushi stock added more “body” to this soup. Probably this contributed a bit of saltiness to the soup. But the soup was tasty overall. Katsuobushi stock is also called “Vigor broth” and it was always used by Iron Chef Japanese I Rokusaburo Michiba and later Iron Chef Japanese III Masaharu Morimoto. Always remember Higher grades of Katsuobushi means Good for your Body, Bad for your Wallet. I heard this from Iron Chef series, I am not too sure whether it is true.

I strongly recommended this restaurant is a MUST-GO-MUST-TRY. You will not be disappointed if you are a Japanese food lover.

Address

Ngee Ann City

391 Orchard Road, #04-24
Tower A,
Ngee Ann City
Singapore 238872
 

Operation Hours:
10.30 am ~ 10.30 pm

Last order 10.00 pm
 

Suntec City


3 Temasek Boulevard,
#B1-009
Suntec City Mall,
Singapore 038985

Weekdays / Eve PH
11.30 am ~ 3.00 pm (Last order: 2.40 pm)
6.00 pm ~ 10.30 pm (Last order 9.40 pm)
Saturday
12.00 noon ~ 3.00 pm (Last order: 2.40 pm)
5.00 pm ~ 10.00 pm (Last order 9.40 pm)
Sunday
12.00 noon ~ 9.30 pm (Last order 9.00 pm)
Public Holiday
12.00 noon ~ 3.00 pm (Last order: 2.40 pm)
5.00 pm ~ 10.00 pm (Last order 9.40 pm)

Isetan Scotts

4th Level Isetan Scotts
350. Orchard Road
Shaw House,
Singapore 038985
 

Operation Hours: 
11.00 am ~ 10.00 pm
Last order 9.30 pm
 

Orchard Central

181 Orchard Road, #07-06

Orchard Central,
Singapore 238896

Operation Hours: 
11.00 am ~ 10.00 pm
Last order 9.30 pm

Tampines Mall 

4 Tampines Central 5
#03-26/27
Tampines Mall,
Singapore 529510

Operation Hours: 
11.00 am ~ 10.00 pm
Last order 9.30 pm