Home-style ── Machi-chuka (Japanese-Chinese diner food)
Subuta
Subuta — Japanese sweet-and-sour pork, cubed and glazed in a ketchup-tinted starch sauce
Fried pork cubes are glazed in a cornstarch-thickened, ketchup-tinted sweet-and-sour sauce — a diner staple said to take Cantonese gulaorou as its model, while carrying a distinctly Japanese debate over whether pineapple belongs in it.
Lineage
What it's made of
Fried pork carries a crisp, fragrant coating, and the sweet-and-sour glaze leaves it glossy. The first bite brings tartness, then the sweetness of ketchup and the pork fat's savor follow. Crisp green pepper and onion are said to break up the thick glaze's texture.
How it's made
Cubed pork is marinated, dusted with potato starch, and double-fried until crisp. Rice vinegar, ketchup, and soy sauce are combined into a sauce thickened with a cornstarch slurry, then tossed with the fried pork and stir-fried vegetables. Shops split over whether to include pineapple, a question said to divide opinion at home tables too.
Why it took this shape
One account holds that Cantonese gulaorou often includes pineapple, unlike subuta, and that putting fruit into a savory dish didn't sit well with Japanese diners, so the pineapple was dropped. Ketchup is thought to have stepped in instead, adding sweetness and color, and the resulting strong, rice-friendly flavor settled into a diner staple.
Before you go
- Yokohama ChinatownSaid to be one of the largest Chinatowns in Japan, with more than 150 Chinese restaurants and food shops. Offerings range widely from street snacks to formal course meals.
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
- Annin-dofuA dessert descended from Chinese medicinal cooking that uses apricot kernels. In Japan it is often made with milk and almond essence, and the Hong Kong style of fruit and jelly floating in syrup took hold at Chinese restaurants and in school lunches.
- BambanjiSteamed chicken pulled into shreds and dressed with a sauce rich in ground sesame, served cold. It is based on a Sichuan dish, and in Japan a milder, sweeter sesame sauce with cucumber and other vegetables became the norm.