Tonteki (トンテキ) is a Japanese pork loin steak served in a savory and citrusy sauce. This quick and easy recipe takes just 15 minutes from start to finish! Inspired by the Japanese drama Midnight Diner.

Tonteki was featured on the popular Japanese TV program called “Shinya Shokudo (深夜食堂)” or “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories” which is now available on Netflix.
Episode of Tonteki from Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories
Midnight Diner features Japanese dishes that are more representative of home-cooked recipes than Japanese restaurant menus in the US. If you’re interested in Japanese home-cooked meals, you will enjoy this show as much as I do!
Tonteki’s episode is Season 1, Episode 3 on Netflix.

Tonteki – Japan’s Regional Food
One of the characteristics I love about Japan is each region has its own unique culture and well-known food made with local ingredients. These regions are not too far apart, and sometimes even by taking just a 20-minute train ride, you can experience very different food (e.g. Osaka and Kyoto). I love traveling in Japan and visiting new places to experience local special food, arts & crafts,s and such. This is probably why we have a culture of buying local souvenirs or gifts wherever we go to bring back home to family and friends.
Until I watched Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories, I had never seen or had Tonteki (トンテキ). Tonteki is a regional food in Mie Prefecture in central Japan. That’s where Tenmusu (Shrimp Tempura Rice Ball) originated from as well!

What’s Tonteki?
Tonteki is one of the simpler dishes featured in Midnight Diner; it is pan-seared pork loin steak. Ton (豚) means pork in Japanese, as you may already be familiar with Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and Tonkotsu (pork broth), and -teki (テキ) comes from suteeki (ステーキ) which means steak in Japanese. For those of you who study/read Japanese, Tonteki トンテキ is sometimes written as とんテキ、豚てき、とんてき、豚テキ, with the different combination of hiragana, katakana, and kanji.
The original Tonteki was introduced at the Chinese restaurant Lai Lai Ken (來來憲らいらいけん) in Yokkaichi (四日市) after WWII. The pork loin steak is cooked with thick garlic soy sauce and served with shredded cabbage.

This dish is also known as Glove-yaki (グローブ焼き) as the pork loin with slits resembles baseball gloves. These slits are added so that it’s easier to eat with chopsticks and it also helps cook the meat faster without overcooking it.
What Makes It Tonteki??
According to Yokkaichi Tonteki Association (how cool they have an association for this dish!), in order to call a dish “Tonteki”, it has to have the following four requirements:
- Served with dark rich savory sauce
- Thick pork loin is used
- Garnished with garlic
- Served with thinly shredded cabbage

However, as you see in today’s dish, the master (the main actor) from Midnight Diner made Tonteki that’s slightly different from the original style Tonteki. As this series on JOC is a recreation of the master’s recipe, I followed how he made it in this episode. Maybe when I have a chance to try Tonteki in Yokkaichi, I’ll re-create the original version. My family loved this simple dish and I hope you’ll enjoy it as well.
If you want to check out other Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories – Season 1 Recipes, read Netflix Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories – Season 1 Recipes.

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Tonteki
Video
Ingredients
- ¼ onion (with core intact for grating)
- 2 boneless pork loin chops (½-inch thick) (½ lb, 227 g)
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
For the Garnish (optional)
- ¼ head green cabbage
- 1 tomato
- parsley
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Over a small bowl, grate ¼ onion (use about half of it) and set aside.
- Shred ¼ head green cabbage into thin slices (I’m using a Japanese cabbage shredder) and cut 1 tomato into wedges.
- Make the sauce. In a medium bowl, combine 3 Tbsp ponzu, 3 Tbsp sake, and ½ Tbsp soy sauce. Whisk it all together.
- In order to sear the meat perfectly, pat dry 2 boneless pork loin chops (½-inch thick) with paper towels. Removing the moisture will prevent the meat from steaming.
- Make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and the fat on both sides of the meat. Red meat and fat have different elasticities and will shrink and expand at different rates when cooked. These slits allow the pork loin chops to stay nice and flat while cooking instead of curling up.
- Season one side of the meat with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper (the sauce is salty, so you can skip the salt here if you‘d like).
- Coat the meat with 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (plain flour) and remove the excess flour.
To Cook
- Heat the frying pan over medium-high heat and add 1 Tbsp neutral oil. When the pan is hot, add the pork loin chops. Cook for 4 minutes on each side. Do not flip until the bottom is nicely golden brown. If you‘re preparing more than 2 pieces, cook them in batches. Give some space between the meat to ensure nice searing and prevent steaming the meat. Browning the meat gives an important flavor component. The meat should be flat to get evenly golden brown, and that‘s why making slits is important in step 6.
- If you see protein coming out from the meat, you can remove it and wipe off the excess oil (optional).
- Add the sauce and grated onion to the pan.
- Pour the sauce over the meat with a spoon and coat the meat well.
To Serve
- If you eat with chopsticks, transfer the meat to a cutting board and slice it into bite-size pieces. Serve the Tonteki with the shredded cabbage and tomatoes. Pour the extra sauce over the cabbage, if you‘d like. Garnish with parsley (optional).
To Store
- Keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Definitely going to try this. Looks and sounds so good.
Are they any other recipes that use ponzu sauce? The ‘recipes using ponzu’ link on the ponzu sauce page doesn’t go anywhere
Hi Jung, Thank you for your kind words and for bringing this to our attention. We’ll make the necessary changes to the link.
In the meantime, here is the result using the search box at the top right corner and type “Ponzu.”
https://www.justonecookbook.com/search/?q=ponzu
We hope you find your favorite dish!☺️
Got rave reviews. Everybody loved the sauce
Hi Rachel! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hello Nami. I was wondering could I use pork loin tenderloin and cut pieces off instead of pre-cut steaks? Or is it totally different? I love your recipes. I have tried a few of them and have enjoyed all of them.
Hi Christine! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind words!
Here’s what I read: https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-pork-loin-and-pork-tenderloin-meat-basics-213408
Though, personally I think it should work… I haven’t tried it, so if you decided to try, let us know. 🙂
Thank you for your reply! I made it and it worked! It was delicious! 🙂
Hi Christine! Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m glad it worked! 🙂
Looks great! How long do you cook the pork after you add the sauce and onions?
Hi Susan! Don’t overcook the pork after you add the sauce, just spoon the sauce over the meat a few times, maybe just 1 minute or so. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
This was DELICIOUS! I watched the episode right before I cooked 🙂 It was fast and easy and my kids INHALED it.
Hi Janelle! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the Tonteki recipe! It’s a good idea that you watch the episode before you cook. We’re working on Season 2 recipes now, and I hope you find more recipes to try!
Yes Nami sis. Haha I have also been watching and have made two recipes from it. But now i see it on your blog as well. I’m so happy as I really also like that drama alot. I love your recipes and always come to see new ones you add. Well done. 💕😍🤩
Hi Zahra! Thank you for your kind words. So happy to hear you enjoy watching the show too! 🙂
This has now become a regular in our house, we absolutely love it!
Hi FoodbyJosh! I’m so happy to hear that you like this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback and for trying this recipe! 🙂
I am a big fan of Midnight Diner. This is one of the more intriguing episodes, as well. Your recipe caught the magic of the program. My whole family loves this dish, and it is so simple to make that it is often our go-to meal when my son has a soccer game or my daughter has softball or choir practice in the evening. Thanks so much for this and the many other recipes; we are big fans.
Hi Matthew! Awww! I’m super happy to hear your family enjoy this dish! Thank you for your kind feedback and comment. It means so much to me! Hope to share more quick and easy recipes in the future that we can make after kids’ activities!
Thanks for posing the recipe! My husband and I cooked it together and it was simple and delicious! Excellent recipe!
Hi Moriya! I’m so glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
I love your website. It’s very educational and informative.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Nathan! I’m glad you enjoy my blog. 🙂
I spent my summers in Mie (Matsusaka City) during grade school but had no idea that Tonteki was a regional dish. Until I read your blog I thought it was everyday food since I never ventured outside the area!
Have you seen “Samurai no Gourmet” on Netflix with Takenaka Naoto? If not, I think you will really enjoy it as each episode is focused around a different food.
Hi Anita! That is so interesting, but after living in the US for sometime, this kind of conversation happens a lot even for Japanese people. We often get surprised how much we don’t know about our regional food. It can be same food, like Futomaki (fat/bit sushi roll), but the filling is very different by region.
Yes, I’ve seen! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
I saw this YouTube this morning, made it for dinner tonight. It’s sooooo good!! Thank you! Signed up here AND subscribed on YouTube. Can’t wait to try the next thing I saw . . .
Hi Jim! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe! Thank you for taking your time to write your kind feedback. Isn’t it easy and delicious? 🙂
I’m writing the next Midnight Diner recipe which will be only recipe (no video) on the blog. Stay tuned! Hoping to post next week. 😀
Last night I watched the movie Shinya Shokudo to have a preview and I loved it. Thanks for letting me know about this serie. I will start it soon!
Hi Libni! I hope you enjoy the TV series too and my recipes from the show! 🙂
This looks easy and delicious..thanks
Curious, did you double sauce recipe or not???
Hi Lyn! No, the recipe is exact. 🙂
Am going to try to make this if I can get the Ponzu at my local Asian market!
Hi Tina! It should be easy to find, Mizkan and Kikkoman have ponzu. You can quickly make it with soy sauce + lemon juice but slightly taste differently. Or I have a ponzu recipe here if you want homemade that tastes delicious.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/ponzu-sauce/