Japanese cuisine is perhaps one of the most
elegant in the world. From the humble bowl of rice to the elegantly sliced
perfection of the freshest sahimi, the food is a reflection of the centuries of
growth and evolution of their culture. While most Japanese restaurants present
a gastronomic garden (with meat, just going for the alliteration here) Yabu
instead chooses to focus on one aspect of the cuisine's spectrum: deep fried
breaded meat. (Insert huge grin here.)
The initial thought may put off some
diners. "Tonkatsu? I can grab that at any fast food Japanese joint,
right?" Yeah, but you can also grab a gravy slathered centimeter slice of
beef and call it steak. It's all in how you look at it. What is foi gras but
extremely nummy liver spread? So yes,
this is a deep fried slab of pork, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better
one without flying north to the "land of the rising sun."
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| The ever-reliable tonkatsu: For the Japanese it's a filling meal and also a handy iPhone cover. |
There's a lot to love with this deceptively
simple dish. The loin is covered in panko,
the traditional Japanese breading, and according to their menu, fried at a
specific temperature down to the exact second as taught to the restaurant by
the chef of one of the premiere tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo.
At the new Yabu in Mega Mall, you'll first be given a small bowl of sesame seeds to begin the
interactive sauce preparation. It's no trouble at all and the kids should get a
kick out of the activity. Once ground you then pour some of the tonkatsu sauce
over the seeds and mix, resulting in a nice, thick sauce, tastier and not quite
as sweet as the ones served in local fast food joints.
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| Ground and pound: Sesame seeds for preparing the tonkatsu sauce. |
Whatever it is about their cooking process,
be it the cut, the temperature, the time, or perhaps all the simple facets
combined, the dish is simply perfection. The local pork variant of rosu or loin is already incredibly moist
and tender, and you can also opt for the slightly healthier hire cut which has the fat trimmed. Yabu
also offer a premium set of kurobuta pork,
a variant with heavy marbling which is just... out of this world. The extra fat
makes it even juicier to the point that it literally melts in your mouth.
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| Up close and personal with my lovely tonkatsu |
I love fried stuff. I love meat. I love
tonkatsu. Health benefits? I honestly can't think of any besides a rush of endorphins
whenever I took a bite. Yabu isn't one of those places where you go for a salad.
What it is is a restaurant that knows how to do what it does well. When you
visit, just order as big an order as you can manage and indulge. It's the piece
of meat that poets write epics about and heroes go to war for.
Jonathan Lansang is a hardcore foodie who will not pass up eat-all-you-can's, food challenges with time limits, and massive portions of meat. He co-runs Burger Boys, a family-owned diner, and has written for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Metro, and Yummy.
