脂に頼らない柔らか焼豚 : Inamura Tei

I purchased tender chashu (braised pork) from Inamuragasaki. Seeking an escape from the busy reality, I decided to visit Kamakura over the weekend. Along with that, I set out to explore some places I had bookmarked on Tabelog. The shop is just a few minutes’ walk from Inamuragasaki Station on the Enoden line. What stands out is the location: it’s merely a 2-second walk from the level crossing of the Enoden. Right in front of the entrance, the train tracks are visible, and trains pass by very close. This scene is illustrated on the plastic bags and chashu packaging I purchased later. The shop itself is quite small, only accommodating 2-3 people at a time. In the refrigerated display case on a Saturday afternoon, only chashu of different sizes are available. I bought a medium-sized portion (180g for JPY 1,396, tax included) with my Suica card to enjoy for dinner the next day. The size is more than enough for one person. Ideally, I would like to slice it thinly like ramen chashu, but I lack the technique and experience… So instead, I cut it thickly—over 1 cm—for a luxurious touch. I plated it with a salad of cut vegetables and onions, drizzled with the accompanying sauce, and it was ready to eat. As you can see from the cross-section, there's no layer of fat like classic chashu. However, once in my mouth, it melts and becomes incredibly tender. While regular chashu often achieves that tenderness by separating the fat from the meat, this one offers a genuine softness that comes from the meat fibers themselves. The flavor is a balanced soy sauce sauce with both spiciness and sweetness, permeating through the fibers. It pairs well with freshly cooked rice. This shop has been bookmarked for quite some time. I enjoyed the tender chashu and it was a great meal.