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Katsuya takes perhaps a little too much liberty with its take on a Niigata soul food

Krista Rogers a few minute ago
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We might be just a little bit saucy about this double-sauced version of a classic local specialty dish.

Way back in 1931, a restaurant called Komatsu Parlor in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture served up a novel dish that was dubbed Western-style katsudon, in which tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet) was placed on top of a bed of rice and topped with a thick, Western-style sauce, usually with either a ketchup or a demi-glace base. Not only was it tasty but it had an elegant, refined appearance, and it quickly became known as a popular “soul food” of the area.

Fast forward to the present, and modern tonkatsu and katsudon chain Katsuya released a limited-time menu item on November 6 for Aigake Western-Style Katsu Rice (869 yen/US$5.48). This dish is said to take inspiration from Nagaoka’s specialty dish while putting its own unique Katsuya spin on it…perhaps a little too much of a spin, in fact. Nevertheless, devoted fans of Katsuya that we are, we wanted to check it out for ourselves and headed to our local branch.

We were particularly curious about whether the sauce would be the ketchup type or demi-glace type. When our order arrived in front of us, we were a little bit shocked at the contents.

▼ It turns out that it had both.

The deep-fried pork loin was cut into six chunks, half of which were covered in a Japanese “aurora sauce” concoction of ketchup and Kewpie mayo…

…while the other half were drenched in a demi-glace sauce.

In other words, it was a best-of-both-worlds kind of deal. Some skeptics may think it’s unnecessary to combine both types on a single plate, but at least this way we could sample two different versions of the same dish.

The tonkatsu was resting on a small bed of white rice and on the side was also the typical accompaniment of shaved cabbage along with Japanese-style “Napolitan” ketchup spaghetti and a sunny-side-up fried egg. The plate as a whole looked a little bit busy, like a slightly chaotic fried food theme park.

We started our meal with the demi-glace side of the plate. It was strange how the addition of a sauce like this could elevate the ordinary tonkatsu into a somehow gourmet flavor.

On the other hand, while the aurora sauce on its own had a strong, sour kick–to the point where we tasted the same burst of acidity as with pickled ume–it evened out splendidly on top of the meat. This blended sauce might not be for everyone, but we actually preferred it to the demi-glace version.

Moving on, the pasta was springer than we initially thought and had that classic Napolitan taste with bits of bacon. Its flavor was further enhanced by its the seeping egg yolk neighbor.

There was also enough sauce beginning to pool on the plate that we were able to pour it over the cabbage and turn over a new leaf.

All in all, while we enjoyed the new Aigake Western-Style Katsu Rice dish, we have to wonder if all of Katsuya’s extreme modifications to its originator in Niigata are completely necessary. The plate also lacked a little bit of the visual impact of other recent Katsuya creations that we’ve tried. In any case, we’ll continue searching for more local takes on the tasty, deep-fried dish that have been around for decades.

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