It has been almost a year since our lives changed forever. While there are no end of companies that have fallen on hard times, there are many services and products that have been created for the new lifestyle.
Tonkatsu ARI, introduced here, is another food truck that started in the Corona Disaster.
Although a food truck is nothing new, the chefs who work there have honed their skills at Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning restaurants. What they offer is "luxurious" pork cutlets.
That pork cutlet is eaten with foam, not sauce.
Most food trucks only bake or reheat food. At Tonkatsu ARI, however, the chef drives a special vehicle to the location where the order is placed and prepares the food on the spot. The tonkatsu is then served with an "espuma" foam sauce.
A device that produces espuma. It looks like soft-serve ice cream, but it is actually foam filled with tiny air bubbles.
Espuma is a technique often used in French cuisine, in which the ingredients to be made into a sauce are placed in a special device and gas is added to make them foam. The bubbles help the sauce and the food to become more cohesive.
The sauces served on this day were mango-based and avocado-based. The sauces vary depending on the season.
It is a common occurrence that when an unusual technique is used, the actual cooking is often neglected in favor of a cover. However, the tonkatsu at ARI is delicious enough without the bubble sauce. The owner, Ari, recommends, "At first, you can eat it without any sauce, then with rock salt, and finally with the bubble sauce. After that, you can do whatever you like.
Lagrosse (Luxury loin; 280-300 grams equivalent) ¥3,890+TAX
Black cutlet sandwich ¥1,200-¥1,500 (tentative)
I had three kinds of sandwiches that day: ragu loin (loin pork cutlet), ragu fillet (fillet cutlet), and a black cutlet sandwich.
As you can see from the photo, the pork cutlet is just thick. The cross section is slightly pink and the texture is fluffy.
It is difficult to heat the meat when it is this thick, but the temperature of the oil is thoroughly controlled, the meat is slowly fried at a low temperature, and the residual heat is also considered to ensure that the meat is in the best condition at the right time to eat. There are many excellent monkatsu restaurants in Tokyo, but this is not at all inferior to those restaurants. The food truck is just a name, but the taste is truly Bib Gourmand class.
Also, regular pork cutlets have a much darker batter. The reason why "ARI" pork cutlets are whitish is because they are dipped in breadcrumbs without sugar. Sugared breadcrumbs burn quickly when fried. So we use unsweetened breadcrumbs. It's healthier," says Ali.
The bread used to make cutlet sandwiches is custom-made with bamboo charcoal kneaded into it and made with natural yeast. Charcoal also absorbs and expels toxins from the body. Like the bread crumbs, the health aspect is also taken care of.
So where can you eat? While typical food trucks operate in a fixed location, you can call Tonkatsu ARI home. Anywhere within the 23 wards of Tokyo. If you order two or more items from the grand menu, there is no travel fee. You only need to pay for the food. You can also call with your neighbor.
One of the themes of "ARI" is "from the era of restaurants going to restaurants to the era of restaurants coming to restaurants. Indeed, if the food is this good and they are willing to travel to you, you may be able to tolerate going to restaurants for a while.
The state of emergency declaration has been extended, and it looks like we will continue to coexist with Corona this year. However, cravings for good food come out of the blue. In such a case, you can call "Tonkatsu ARI" at home and indulge in "ragouton" (abbreviation of "roughage tonkatsu," which is also a trademarked name. It's also a trademarked name. After the Corona is over, they can also be used for catering parties.
