What is Tonkotsu (とんこつ)?

The word “Tonkotsu (豚骨/とんこつ)” is often used as “Tonkotsu Ramen (豚骨ラーメン)”. Did you just have that “ah-ha!” moment? Fantastic! 😀

Tonkotsu Ramen
(豚骨ラーメン)

In Japanese, ”Ton (豚)” in “Tonkotsu (豚骨)” means “pig (Buta/豚)” and “Kotsu (骨)” means “bone (Hone/骨)”. So “Tonkotsu” means “pig bone”. Can you guess why? That’s because the broth of Tonkotsu Ramen is made with pig bones. “Yay!” to your new knowledge if you did not already know! 😀 And yeah, that may not sound so delicious, but Tonkotsu is definitely one of the amazing Japanese dishes loved by many people around the world.

Tonkotsu Ramen is originally from one of the heavily populated prefectures in Japan, called Kyushu (九州). There are several variations of Tonkotsu Ramen, such as Hakata Ramen (博多ラーメン), Nagahama Ramen (長浜ラーメン), and Kurume Ramen (久留米ラーメン) to name a few. These names – Hakata, Nagahama, and Kurume – are the names of cities located in Kyushu, but Hakata Ramen is the most well known version of Tonkotsu Ramen. But a fun fact, Kurume Ramen, is actually known as the “original” Tonkotsu Ramen.

If you are interested to read more about Tonkotsu ramen, check out this Ramen shop called Ichiran (一蘭), which is very popular for Hakata style Tonkotsu Ramen in Japan. You can read more about this ramen shop on this website. Ok, now let’s move on to the next topic, Tonkatsu. 😀

What is Tonkatsu (とんかつ)?

With the growing popularity of Tonkatsu in the US, I think most people have now heard of Tonkatsu (豚かつ/とんかつ). Do you remember what “Ton” meant? Yes, it means “pig”, the same as in “Tonkotsu”. Well then, what does “Katsu (かつ)” mean…do you know? “Katsu” means “cutlet”, so “Tonkatsu” means “pig/pork cutlet”. Doesn’t the photo below look so delicious!

Tonkatsu
(とんかつ)

In Japanese cuisine, there are several different kinds of Katsu, and Tonkatsu is one of them. If you want to hear about my big love for Katsu or read more about Japanese Katsu, please check out this post: You may know Tonkatsu and Katsu Sando, but have you heard of Menchi Katsu?

There is this super popular Tonkatsu place in Tokyo Japan, which is called Tonkatsu Narikura (なりくら/成蔵). There is always a long line at this shop, even more than hour before their opening time. On a typical day, you will have to wait at least an hour. I often recommend people to try to get in line before they open, as you have the best chance to be seated within the first group after opening the doors.

But once you “experience” their Tonkatsu on that first bite, you will immediately understand the reason why people wait in that line. It’s like you enjoy the crunchiness of the deep-fried bread crumbs outside of the Tonkatsu first and right after that, this amazing softness of the pork follows with all the mouth-watering goodness of the oil from the pork meat and the Tonkatsu sauce. Sounds too good right? Here are some pictures of my last visit to this shop. It was well worth the 1hr wait! The only sad part, is that these photos simply do not tell the right tale. 😉

Now You Know the Difference Between Tonkatsu and Tonkotsu

The reason why I wrote about this post is because of the experience I had since moving to the US. I’ve seen several menus at Japanese restaurants, which had written, “Tonkatsu Ramen” with a picture of Tonkotsu Ramen. Even my husband from time to time mixes up the two words. And he has lived in Japan for more than 10 years! 😉 So I find it fairly common to hear people use Tonkatsu and Tonkotsu interchangeably, even though they are very different things. 😉

At first, I thought the menus were just a typo, but I’ve seen the same thing more than a couple of times, and it made me think, perhaps some people may be a bit misinformed. And of course, they also sound very very similar, so I think it’s easy to mix them up, for non native Japanese speakers. And if today was the first time learning one of these foods, then I hope you get the pleasure of eating it soon! They are both amazing dishes. It’s on my to do list, but I hope to add my Tonkatsu recipe to my website soon. Please comment below if you would like to see that. Your encouragement always helps and it helps me to prioritize what I add to my site.

Well, I’ve wanted to have the chance to tell people who don’t know about them well, and now I’m really happy that I could share this knowledge with you! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope this helped to add some new Japanese food culture knowledge that you can share with others.

Eat Well, Be Happy!

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A night a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t have any plans to make anything until almost our dinner time as I was a bit tired, but I wasn’t really in a mood to go get something to go from any restaurants either as I wanted to have something made at home ironically. Since I’m the one who makes meals in this house, that meant there was no other choice but I had to make something. So I looked in my fridge to see what I’ve got which I can use to make them into something I’d like to eat and also my husband and the kids would enjoy. And when I saw some soymilk in the fridge, it reminded me that I’ve wanted to make this Spicy Soy Sesame Tsuke-men.

What is Tsuke men?

Tsuke men (つけ麺) is one of the styles of Japanese Ramen, and it’s served in a bit different way than in the regular Ramen, and the noodles and the soup (dipping soup) are served separately like this:

“Tsuke (つけ)” in “Tsuke men (つけ麺)” means “dip”, and “men (麺)” means “noodles”, so “Tsuke men” means “dipping noodles” as apparently the way to eat Tsuke men is by dipping the noodles in the soup.

If you haven’t tried Tsuke men but you like Ramen, I recommend you to try it! It could be your favorite style of Ramen!

There’s one Ramen shop in LA which is called Kai Ramen (specifically the branch in Sherman Oaks), and their Tsuke men is one of my favorite Tsuke mens including the ones in Japan actually. Learn more about this shop on here.

Spicy Soy Sesame Tsuke men

The main ingredients of the dipping soup of Spicy Soy Tsuke men I made are soy milk and grounded sesame seeds and Miso. The key ingredient for this dish is some Layu (Spicy Sesame Oil) which puts the mild and gentle texture of soy milk and the rich scent of sesame seeds in the soup well together and it gives some kick to the mild soup.

As I made it both for the adults (my husband and I, we both love spicy food.) and the kids, I just skipped the last step which is adding some spicy Rayu to the soup for the kids, so we all could enjoy it together.

So, after all, the night was happily and peacefully finished fortunately with the meal which could make every family member content, and everyone said “it was yummy”. Although It was my last-minute dish, I felt really happy deep inside me that it could make my family happy. And it made me realized again that the feeling which you feel when the dish you made with the effort and your love makes someone smile or happy is definitely one of the biggest reasons that drives me to continue learning and exploring cooking.

If you like to check out other noodle dishes, I recommend you these posts:

• Kimchi & Pork Jjigae Udon Recipe – A Korean Spicy Udon Soup with Pork
• My Attempt to Make Shoyu Ramen from Scratch at Home – Soooo Good!
• The Combination of Pasta, Meat, and Tomato Sauce Can’t Go Wrong: Homemade Spaghetti Meatballs
• A Hot Summer Day Calls For This Refreshing Chinese Cold Noodle Dish: Hiyashi Chuka

-Eat Well, Be Happy-

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I always love eating delicious food which someone else makes for you, but it’s also great and important to make the dish yourself and experience the process so that you know what goes into making that delicious bowl of goodness. By doing it, you quickly learn how much effort it really requires and the craft that goes into it.

And I also have to say, that I’m really glad I’ve found this legit Ramen noodle after all the disappointments with those Ramen noodles you can buy in your local grocery stores. Even the Japanese supermarkets can sometimes not deliver on this one. I wouldn’t say this is the best noodle, but for the convenience of being able to purchase from your local Whole Foods, or have it delivered to your door, you can’t go wrong.

I usually get them at WholeFoods, but in case you don’t have a Whole Foods near you, you can also order through their website here.

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