Kurobuta, or “black pork”, is a speciality lean pork cutlet, one of the signature dishes from Kagoshima Prefecture. Located in the southern part of Kyushu, Kagoshima Prefecture hosts a breed of pig known as the “Kagoshima Berkshire”, a species first imported from Berkshire, UK, in the 1860s.

History

During the Edo Period, very little “meat” was eaten in Japan, referring to cows and horses. This was due to cultural, religious and technological reasons. However, pigs and chickens were considered “walking vegetables”, so were an exception. Almost every household kept their own pig that they slaughtered for celebrations and events.

Today, the now separately classified species can be traced back to two black Berkshire pigs imported in the 1930s. They become a popular source of meat in the 1950s, especially in the Kanto region (including Tokyo), seeing an increase in production. However in the 1960s, there was an economic boom in Japan, and tasted turned towards more fattier meat, resulting in the overall number of Kagoshima Berkshire pigs declining. It would not be until Japan’s bubble economy in the late 80s and early 90s that the popularity of Kurobuta increased again.

Today, Kagoshima Berkshires make up about 40% of the pig population in Kagoshima. They are all black, hence the name “black pig” or “black pork”.

Kurobuta Tonkatsu

If you go to Kagoshima Prefecture, anywhere that serves tonkatsu will most likely also serve Kurobuta. Many speciality restaurants specialise in black pork products, including shabu shabu, a type of hotpot in which thinly sliced strips of raw meat are added to a boiling pot of vegetables and combined with dipping sauces.

Note that while the skin of the pigs are brown, the meat is still white.

Kurobuta is a protected designation, meaning the meat must come from a true crossbreeding of Kagoshima Berkshire pigs from Kagoshima. Anything else cannot be called Kurobuta. A certification process was set up in 1992; the Kagoshima Kurobuta certificates issued include a picture of Sakurajima, the symbol of Kagoshima, and a black pig, along with the producer’s name (producer group name) and the shipping date (processing date), ensuring traceability.

Unlike beef, it isn’t easy to distinguish pork quality at a glance. Because the council members all have different expectations of what quality is, this has led to selling black pigs of varying quality. In 1996, the council established brand production area designation standards, aiming to designate the brand and standardise the quality of Kagoshima black pigs, and worked to popularise and develop a breeding manual that complies with the standards.

Picking a good Kurobuta Restaurant

While you can find Kurobuta almost anywhere, including izakayas (Japanese pubs), in Kagoshima, those specialising in Kurobuta are more likely to have higher quality black pork.

In Kagoshima City, I can vouch for Kurokatsutei Kurobe Tenmonkan and Tonkatsu and shabu-shabu. Fukuya Black Pork. Both specialise in Kurobuta products. Fukuya is somewhat more upscale and shabu shabu is also available, whereas Kurokatsutei is more focused on the tonkatsu end of the spectrum.

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