Miso Katsu Ramen

Bite-sized pieces of fried pork cutlet sit right on top of a miso-based broth — the basic form. Miso's richness meets the cutlet's fried aroma, landing on something entirely different from the miso-sauced tonkatsu known elsewhere in Japan. In Kochi, "miso katsu" is understood to mean this ramen by default. Miso type and cutlet thickness vary by shop — some use a robust red miso, others a milder blended miso.## How it's made A miso-seasoned broth is prepared, and a separately fried bite-sized cutlet is added to the bowl before serving. How long the cutlet sits in the broth changes how soft the batter gets, so the flavor shifts a little depending on how fast it's eaten. The idea is said to have grown out of a diner's popular cutlet set meal, combined with a bowl of ramen already on the menu. Shops split between setting the cutlet straight into the broth from the start and serving it on a separate plate for the diner to add at will.## Why it took this shape One account says a diner owner figured that a well-liked cutlet from its set meal might taste good on miso ramen, and that hunch became the dish. Folding a side dish from one menu into a bowl from another is what created a term — "miso katsu" — that means this specific thing only in Kochi. As the idea spread through Kochi's diner culture, topping miso ramen with a cutlet settled into a recognizable form of its own.