Dear Reader,

I was at the train station on my way home when my mom sent me a text about dinner — everyone else was out, and it seemed like it was just going to be the two of us.

It didn’t take long for me to reply — we decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in Shinjuku for fresh tonkatsu, or Japanese pork cutlet. I hadn’t had one in a while but was craving it after seeing an ad for it in our mailbox. “Served with fresh spring cabbage!” the newsletter read.

It seems that the season for it has come around again.

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Why tonkatsu is always paired with shredded cabbage

Pork cutlet was brought into Japan during the Meiji Era, in 1899 by a restaurant called Rengatei in Ginza, Tokyo. But when it was first served there, it was not served with raw shredded cabbage. In fact, the dish more closely resembled the schnitzel you’d find in Vienna or Germany, served with a side of potatoes and sautéed vegetables.

The restaurant was doing well, but due to the mandatory draft for the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, the owner suddenly found his kitchen short of hands. To save time, he changed the menu so that the pork cutlet would be served with raw shredded cabbage, rather than cooked vegetables.

Turns out the raw cabbage was a lot more popular— diners liked how it freshened the mouth and it didn’t make them feel so heavy or sluggish after. The restaurant gained a lot more popularity after the switch, and other restaurants began to serve their tonkatsu with shredded cabbage.

Now, Japanese pork cutlets with shredded cabbage is the classic way to serve the dish.

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Health benefits of cabbage

The freshness of the mouth isn’t just a placebo effect. The pork cutlet is deep-fried, so, naturally, it’s a greasy food that’s not so good for our stomach, but when it’s eaten with raw cabbage, this helps aid digestion.

The dietary fiber in cabbage suppresses and slows the absorption of fat and helps feed healthy gut bacteria to keep your digestive system functioning well.

Cabbage is also rich in an enzyme known as s-methyl methionine, also known as vitamin U, which gently protects the gastrointestinal membrane of the stomach. This enzyme is particularly abundant in cabbage but is altered with high heat, but when consumed raw you are able to get the full benefits.

As a bonus, cabbage is also incredibly high in vitamin C — about 3 large leaves is enough to get your daily requirement.

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A healthy diet is a balancing act

A sustainable, healthy diet is a balancing act, and is not about eliminating certain ingredients or foods that are “bad” for us — in fact, this self-restraint only sets us up for excess stress and perpetuates guilt when we can’t enjoy the foods we love.

Fried foods aren’t evil. It’s also not poison. Instead we need to balance what we eat in ways that don’t deprive us. We can still enjoy fried foods and continue to meet our major health goals as long as we stay mindful of how we eat these foods.

The key to dishes like tonkatsu: Don’t eat too much, and pair it with vegetables — preferably raw cabbage.

Warmly,

Kaki

Do we need more low-level ecstasy? 💭

Recently I finished Bill Bryson’s book “A Walk in the Woods” — if you’re looking to slow down, laugh, reflect, and feel a bit more connected to nature it’s a great read. Easy to read, and easy to enjoy.

The book is about the author’s experience hiking the Appalachian Trail., and I can’t stop thinking about one of the quotes in the book:

Low-level ecstasy.

Through a different lens, what he’s really talking about is gratitude.

In the book, Bryson was speaking about the joy of re-discovering a hot shower, warm food, running water, a comfortable bed, and other modern conveniences after a week of deprivation from it. We hardly feel ecstatic about these things in our every day, but after spending time in the wilderness it changes things.

It made me think— I couldn’t recall the last time I had felt such low-level ecstasy.

I’m not sure, but I’ve been more mindful of letting myself feel excited over “small” things, even if it feels a bit silly.

There is so much wonder in the world, it’d be a shame to not recognize it when it’s there.

Thanks for reading!

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