Niigata Katsudon

Niigata Katsudon is most known for its Tare Katsudon a category of sauced katsudon that differs from the classic, but the area is also known for its options of classics that involve egg. The area has home cooks have a preference for what sorts of eggs are with their katsudon depending on the variety, for example some like over easy or sunnyside cooked eggs in the middle of their tare katsudon, meanwhile others may just want a plain classic, or even tare katsu cooked with the egg for a salty punch of flavor. The eggs are made in a variety of ways with the pork and that can be: raw eggs (warmed), normal eggs (runny), tama-toji eggs (egg scrambled), tama tojinai (sunnyside eggs.unbound). The Chuo Ward in Niigata City has influenced the way people see differences in Classic Katsudon and the flavors they can only find in Niigata. 

The first place that has been talked about in recent times is Restaurant Nagaya in Furumachi-dori that would bring the attention to people who tried the extra umami flavor that would be brought out of local varieties of pork with the cooking method of deep frying the katsu in pork lard. The “Pork Lard Fried” would be made from pork fat that would be redered and used for cooking with each local variety of pork having its own flavor of pork lard. The rice used for this particular bowl is from Mizuho Shina Brand. There are other restaurants that have differing cuts like Toya no eave “square-cut katsu”, or at Dainanro there is a jokatsudon “thin-cut katsu” with a tenshinhan egg like appearance. There are different brands of pork used from different breeding regions like “Tsunan Pork”, “Suo Blackline Pork”, or “Pure White Bianca Pork”, and “Mumiton Pork”.

Soba Days Terao in Nishi Ward would be known for using a particular variety of pork “Pure White Bianco 純白のビアンコ” that has fragrant white fat, crispy meat, elegant sweetness the remaining milk that has been curdled and strained or whats also known as “whey”. It particularly pairs great with dairy products like milk-sauces, cheeses, and yogurts. Such donburi have roasted garlic, roasted shichimi, and roasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top for a unique look of garnish that can be seen in Konan area of Niigata City.