The world's most tender pork

MAISEN, ONE of Japan’s most popular restaurant chains, has found matching success in Bangkok with its kurobuta tonkatsu – breaded and deep-fried pork cutlets so tender they can be cut with chopsticks. The first outlet outside Japan opened in the Silom Complex two years ago and now there are branches at the J Avenue mall on Soi Thonglor, at Siam Paragon and at Suvarnabhumi Airport, all run in partnership with Thai firm S&P International Food. 

Identical to the Japanese restaurants, each branch exudes simplicity amid the warm hues of the wooden bar, tables and chairs.

S&P managing director Thirakorn Raiva became a big fan of Maisen during a five-year stint working in Japan and it was one of his first choices when his company began luring Japanese food manufacturers and services to Thailand. “It took almost two years to acquire the franchise rights and set up the joint venture,” he says. 

“Thais love Japanese food, and tonkatsu is one of the top best-selling dishes at any Japanese restaurant. When I was living in Tokyo a lot of people told me Maisen’s tonkatsu was one of the best because it’s so tender it melts in the mouth. As soon as I tried it, I immediately knew I had to pass the experience on to Bangkok foodies!”

Maisen, part of the Suntory Group – one of Japan’s largest beverage-and-food corporations – has eight branches and 56 kiosks back home and they’re all packed during peak hours, with more customers queued up outside. Every day they serve 37,500 tenderloin tonkatsu dishes, 3,500 sirloin helpings, 20,000 sandwiches and 4,500 single-portion bento takeout meals. Total sales last year were equivalent to Bt3 billion. 

It’s been quite a trajectory for Maisen, which was originally, back in 1965, a housewife’s tiny shop in Tokyo’s Aoyama district. The Nation recently joined Thirakorn on a media visit to that shop, but it’s no longer tiny. The first branch is now the largest, with 250 seats added in an adjoining former bathhouse. There’s a takeaway counter up front and always stream of diners waiting to be seated at lunch and dinnertime. This branch alone sells about 1,000 tonkatsu servings daily.

“This is where 20 Thai chefs learned how to cook tonkatsu from the head chef, Yoshitaka Matsuoka,” Thirakorn said, introducing the 60-year-old master who’s been there since he was 18. “The difficult part is coating the pork with bread crumbs. It has to be done very gently and thoroughly, while barely touching the pork at all so that the flesh remains firm.”

 

 

The pork – locally raised kurobuta pork as well as regular cuts – is aged for at least three days so it’s more tender and flavourful. Matsuoka demonstrated how he first coats the cutlet in wheat flour, dips it in whisked egg and then applies the cocoon of bread crumbs. The oil used for deep-frying is 165 degrees Celsius and the tonkatsu takes seven or eight minutes to get golden brown. “The oil is a house blend – the pork doesn’t get as greasy when it’s fried – and the Thai outlets use the same special blend,” Matsuoka explained.

In Thailand you get the same oil and same techniques, so the tonkatsu is identical. Herbs and other ingredients are imported from Japan to ensure authenticity in the flavour of accompanying dishes. 

The tenderloin kurobuta katsu set (Bt395) is the top seller in Thailand, served with rice, shredded cabbage, pickled veggies, dessert and miso soup, and refills of the rice, cabbage and soup are free. There are three sauces: amakuchi (sweet soy), karakuchi (salty and sour) and kurobuta (sweet and sour with apple, mustard and salt). There are several seafood dishes available as alternatives if you don’t fancy pork.

The main difference at Maisen in Japan is that there are six types of pork to choose from. Okita kurobuta, the house speciality, comes from a free-range black pig raised on a farm in Kyushu’s Kagoshima prefecture that has dirt as its main diet. The flesh is tender, slightly sweet and less fatty, making it perfect for deep-frying or making shabu shabu. 

The more expensive kurobuta, also from Kyushu, is renowned for its marbling and succulence, and Tokyo X, from a hybrid crossbred from English Berkshire swine, Beijing Black and American Duroc, has fine marbling as well. Other choices are Chamiton, from a pig fed on tea to make its meat rich in Vitamin E and low in cholesterol, and Beni Buta from Okinawa, an animal that lives on sweet potatoes, so the pork has its own distinct taste.

Maisen is even developing its own pig, Ami Yuwaku, derived from Yorkshire swine. It’s raised on a farm in Chiba Prefecture and its feed is mixed with the discarded rinds of the bread that Maisen uses. This diet supposedly boosts the meat’s carbohydrate count and makes it tender and juicy. Two years into the “experiment”, the firm needs more time to perfect the product, but meanwhile 10 sample servings are available each day at the original Aoyama branch. 

Thailand, by comparison, has just two choices of pork, Thirakorn said, but all the preparation is the same as in Japan and head chef Matsuoka supervises the quality control. “We plan to open another three outlets by next year. The goal is 30 outlets within 10 years.”

 

KRAZY FOR KUROBUTA

>>>So far Maisen has outlets at the Silom Complex, J Avenue Mall, Siam Paragon and Suvarnabhumi Airport.

>>> Find out more at (02) 785 4000, www.MaisenThailand.com and “MaisenThailand” on Facebook.