My Japanese Kitchen

For the past two weeks my nose and taste buds have been gradually returning to a somewhat normal pre-pregnancy state. I think whatever issues I have now are mostly PTSD-style flashbacks. I am even starting to want a Japanese dish again, not just any Japanese dish, (I'm still not gonna go gnawing on an octopus anytime soon) but my beloved tonkatsu.

I really want it from the bento shop around the corner (first mentioned in detail here) but this post is about the time I attempted to make it myself, full-on Japanese-style. This was right after the first of the year, but I wasn't able to post about it until now because shortly thereafter I was unable to do it justice (and by that I mean I couldn't so much as look at the photo without gagging).

I followed the instructions in Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking (first mentioned here, where I now realize I also mentioned our TV set up at a time when I wasn't short on post topics) to the letter:

complete with my $10 fake-lacquered serving tray and disposable chopsticks that we hoard
from the bento shop. plus the tiny bowls that I love to buy at the 100 yen ($1) store

Harumi says you have to have shredded cabbage, lemon, soy sauce and salt to eat with it. I added miso soup to the meal but I'm afraid my miso soup is terrible. I've got to find someone who can teach me how to make it---seriously, it's horrible. The tonkatsu itself was OK, but nowhere near as good as the bento shop's. I honestly don't know that I'll try to make it again. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just keep going around the corner.