Meat
Pork cuts
豚肉の部位
20 varieties
Pork cuts split the same way beef does, into prime cuts like loin and tenderloin and offal — stomach, heart, liver, small intestine, and large intestine. Tenderloin is the finest-grained, leanest pork cut, while belly layers lean meat and fat, and spare ribs are the bone-in section of that belly. Cuts like tontoro (jowl) and kashira (cheek) are often favored for yakitori skewers for their fat and texture. This section follows the range from prime cuts to offal.
No single place of origin20
- Daichopork large intestine — thicker and chewier than the small
- Hatsupork heart — low-fat and mild, close to the beef version
- Kobukuropork uterus — the offal cut most often sold as "kobukuro"
- Mamepork kidney — named for its bean-like shape
- Rebapork liver — high in iron, popular fried or sauteed
- Shochopork small intestine — fatty and needs careful trimming
- Tanpork tongue — smaller than beef tongue, with a milder taste
- Gatsupork stomach — a mild, crisp-textured offal cut
- Kashirapork cheek meat — firm, gelatin-rich head meat
- Mimigapig ear — an Okinawan specialty eaten shredded fine
- Barapork belly — layered lean and fat, the base for spare ribs
- Momopork leg (ham) — lean meat suited to grilling and searing
- Rosupork loin — the classic cut for tonkatsu
- Sotomomopork outside round (silverside) — an all-purpose lean cut
- Katapork shoulder (picnic) — firmer meat suited to simmering
- Kata Rosupork shoulder loin (collar) — well-marbled with a rich bite
- Hirepork tenderloin — the leanest and most tender pork cut
- Spare Ribspare ribs — the bone-in cut of pork belly
- Tonsokupig's trotters — collagen-rich, usually sold pre-boiled
- Tontoropork jowl/neck — nicknamed for its toro-like marbling