Kurobuta pork

All of Kagoshima Prefecture

Nicknamed “the walking vegetable?!” Kagoshima kurobuta pork – once a favorite of samurai warriors.

Kagoshima kurobuta pork boasts over 400 years of history. With fine textured, tender meat and clean-tasting fat, highly nutritious kurobuta pork, unblemished by off flavors, was a favorite of shogun generals in ancient times and is still loved today as the “walking vegetable.” What makes Kagoshima kurobuta pork so delicious is Kagoshima’s sweet potatoes, one of the prefectures top products. Kurobuta pigs fed on these sweet potatoes gain the distinctive clean-flavored fatty meat so beloved by fans. Kagoshima’s warm and pleasant weather is also essential to raising kurobuta piglets. Thanks to this combination of factors, kurobuta has become a brand name for pork unique to Kagoshima.

Shabu-shabu, tonkatsu, shogayaki... the recipes are endless!

What’s the most delicious way to eat kurobuta pork? If you’re looking to experience the flavor of the meat in and of itself, definitely go with shabu-shabu. Dip raw slices of pork into boiling hot dashi broth, then cover with fresh raw egg, ponzu citrus sauce, or sesame tare sauce and enjoy. The tenderness of the thinly sliced meat and the sweetness of the fat will melt in your mouth. Other popular recipe choices include deep fried tonkatsu pork cutlet or menchikatsu ground pork patty as well as shogayaki – slices of pork sautéed in ginger and soy sauce. All are simple dishes, but with kurobuta pork, they become a real treat!

If you’re going to try kurobuta cuisine just once, visit Roppakutei.

If you’d like to enjoy an abundant variety of kurobuta dishes in one sitting, be sure to visit Roppakutei, a restaurant specializing in cuisine using Kagoshima Kurobuta pork. Roppakutei boasts the freshest kurobuta pork shipped directly from a farm under exclusive contract with the restaurant located at the foot of Mt. Kirishima. The shabu-shabu, the restaurant’s most popular item, uses prized fatty boned rib meat. Despite the high amount of fat, it avoids being too rich; the clean flavor will make it hard to put your chopsticks down. Another famous dish from the restaurant is Roppakutei’s lava-roast kurobuta kalbi – slices of Korean-style marinated pork roasted on a plate of stone cut from the cooled lava of Sakurajima, the symbol of Kagoshima. The deep fried tonkatsu, a Japanese staple for pork cuisine, also comes recommended. With a full menu of local Kagoshima dishes, you’ll want to try them all.

For reference

Roppakutei

Address

Hotel Union 1F, 2-12-34 Nishida, Kagoshima-shi, Kagoshima-ken
Telephone

099-251-9008
Opening hours

11:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M. last order; 5:30 P.M.-10:00 P.M. last order
Closed

Open seven days a week
Website

http://roppakutei.com/

Access

Kagoshima Airport is a 115 minute flight from Haneda Airport

Kagoshima Airport is a 75 minute flight from Osaka International Airport
Kagoshima Airport is a 95 minute flight from Chubu Centrair International Airport
Kagoshima Airport is a 75 minute flight from Naha Airport

Kagoshima-Chuo Station is 40 minutes by shuttle bus from Kagoshima Airport.