Tonteki Recipe | Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

Tonteki Recipe | Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

• September 17, 2017

The wind down from Summer and transition into Autumn always makes me a little sad and I can't say I'm thrilled when September comes round. And with that mood, I've taken the liberty of couch-potatoing it with Netflix for the past few weeks.

I've been completely addicted to all the Japanese shows and dramas like Terrace House, Midnight Diner: Tokyo Diner and most recently, Samurai Gourmet. Everything, especially the food, reminds me of the amazing time we had in Japan back in 2013 and I can't get enough of it!

"Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories" has had me craving for all of the foods featured. In each episode, the sole owner and chef of a small Japanese Diner in Tokyo cooks one particular dish, all of which are Japanese home comfort foods and requested off the menu. I've been replicating these dishes in my kitchen to satisfy my cravings so I'll be starting a new blog series for these recipes.

In no specific order of the TV drama, the first recipe I have to share is Tonteki. Tonteki is pork loin that is pan fried with a tangy and savoury sauce, and then served with finely shredded cabbage and rice. It is super easy to put together and takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook, who doesn't love a quick and tasty recipe! If you'd like to know more about Tonteki, Just One Cookbook has a excellent blog post and recipe for it too.

Tonteki party members.

Add the mirin, soya sauce, worcester sauce and ketchup together in a bowl and mix well.

Finely grate the onion.

Add salt and pepper to both sides of the pork loin, rub it in a little and dip into a bowl of plain flour to lightly coat.

Add oil to frying pan and when hot, add the pork loins. Pan fry for 4 minutes on each side on high heat.

Pour the sauce mixture and minced garlic over the pork chop and reduce heat to medium. Let the sauce sizzle away for 2 minutes. Flip the pork loins over to get an even coating of sauce all over the pork.

Add in the grated onion and stir well into the sauce to thicken it. Check that the pork loins are thoroughly cooked and take off the heat. 

Serve with steamed rice and finely shredded cabbage (raw). Optional garnish with tomato wedges.


Ingredients:
4 pork loin chops
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup of plain flour
3 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soya sauce
5 tbsp worcester sauce
1.5 tbsp ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely grated
2 tbsp oil
1/4 cabbage, finely shredded

Directions:
1. Add the mirin, soya sauce, worcester sauce and ketchup together in a bowl and mix well. Finely grate the onion and mince the garlic
2. Add salt and pepper to both sides of the pork loin, rub it in a little and dip into a bowl of plain flour to lightly coat
3. Add oil to frying pan and when hot, add the pork loins. Pan fry for 4 minutes on each side on high heat
4. Pour the sauce mixture and minced garlic over the pork chop and reduce heat to medium. Let the sauce sizzle away for 2 minutes. Flip the pork loins over to get an even coating of sauce all over the pork
5. Add in the grated onion and stir well into the sauce to thicken it. Check that the pork loins are thoroughly cooked and take off the heat
6. Serve with steamed rice and finely shredded raw cabbage. Garnish with tomato wedges if you like!

I hope you love this recipe, come back for more recipes on this series soon!