Hajime Tonkatsu & Ramen - Air-Flown Pork, 12-Hour Broth

Hajime Tonkatsu & Ramen was opened by Chef Tan-San, who is widely described as Singapore’s first tonkatsu chef. He trained in the art of the Japanese deep-fried pork cutlet in Japan during the 1990s, then returned to helm the kitchen of the pioneering tonkatsu specialist Tonkichi, before going on to become the pioneer chef of Tampopo, where he is credited with creating dishes such as tonkatsu ramen and kurobuta tonkatsu.

“Hajime” means “beginning” in Japanese, and the kitchen works to that idea: rice is hand-polished, cabbage is washed repeatedly in ice water, and the pork bone broth is simmered for twelve hours, all prepared in-house with no central kitchen. The menu runs from panko-crusted cutlets fried to order to ramen built on that long-simmered broth, and the dishes below are where the decades of technique are most visible.

Premium Pork Loin Tonkatsu — $25.90 (set)

The premium pork loin is cut from pork air-flown from Japan, chosen for the fat marbling that runs through the loin. The cutlet is coated in coarse panko, which fries into an airy, open crust rather than a dense one, and Chef Tan-San uses a draining technique to draw off as much oil as possible so the crumb stays light. Diners are directed to grind the roasted sesame seeds served alongside into the tonkatsu sauce before dipping, which releases the oils in the seeds and builds a nuttier dip. The set comes with free-flow Niigata rice and shredded cabbage, along with miso soup and pickles.

Nagoya Miso Loin

The Nagoya miso version replaces the standard tonkatsu sauce with a dark, Nagoya-style red miso sauce built on hatcho miso, a fermented soybean paste associated with the Nagoya region. The sauce carries a roasted fragrance and a rounded sweetness with a faint sharpness at the edge, and it is thick enough to cling to each slice of the cutlet. The fillet used here is leaner than the marbled loin, so it is fried a little longer until fully cooked through, which stands up to the heavier sauce.

Ebi & Pork Fillet Set — $22.50

This set pairs a pork fillet cutlet with a fried ebi, or prawn. The prawn is coated in the same panko and fried so the shell of crumb stays thin and crisp around the flesh. Serving the two together lets diners compare the leaner pork fillet against the sweeter prawn in a single set, and both arrive with the free-flow rice and cabbage.

Oyakodon

Oyakodon translates from Japanese as “parent and child,” a reference to the chicken and egg that together make up the dish. It is one of Hajime’s donburi options, set apart from the fried cutlets: bite-sized chicken and onion are simmered in a soy and dashi-based sauce, then bound with beaten egg that is left softly set rather than fully cooked and spooned over rice. It is lighter and more gently savoury-sweet than the breaded dishes, and is served over the kitchen’s Niigata rice.

Tonkatsu Ramen

Tonkatsu ramen is one of the dishes tied closely to Chef Tan-San’s career, having been among his creations at Tampopo. It brings two of the kitchen’s specialities into one bowl: slices of the panko cutlet laid over ramen in the house tonkotsu broth. The broth is simmered in-house for twelve hours from pork bones, and the noodles are nama, or fresh, noodles produced by a Japanese company using Japanese flour milled in Singapore.

Ebi Fry Ramen

The ebi fry ramen sets a fried prawn cutlet over the same twelve-hour tonkotsu base, which is finished with a sakura ebi paste made in-house. The dried sakura shrimp lend the broth a sweeter, more marine note than a plain pork base, tying the broth to the fried prawn on top. The kitchen states that no MSG is added to the soup.

Mazesoba

Mazesoba is a dry, brothless ramen served with a pool of concentrated sauce at the base of the bowl that is mixed through the noodles before eating. Without a broth to carry the flavour, the dish leans on the seasoning and the texture of the nama noodles, which hold a firm, chewy bite.

Handmade Gyoza

The gyoza are folded by hand in the kitchen and pan-fried to order. The filling is pork, and the dumplings are crisped on one side while the wrapper stays soft across the top, in the standard yaki-gyoza style.

Tori Karaage

The tori karaage is Japanese fried chicken, marinated and coated before frying so the exterior stays craggy and crisp. It is fried to order rather than held, and works as a side alongside the katsu sets or a bowl of ramen.

With a chef who helped introduce tonkatsu to Singapore and continues to fry each cutlet to order, Hajime offers a chance to taste the dish from one of its earliest local practitioners. Between the panko-crusted cutlets, the twelve-hour tonkotsu ramen and the free-flow rice and cabbage, there is reason to visit any of its three outlets.

myVillage @ Serangoon Gardens
1 Maju Avenue, #02-07/8/9, Singapore 556679
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 3.15pm (last order 2.45pm), 5pm – 9.30pm (last order 9pm), Mon – Sun
Tel: +65 8894 4193

Thomson Plaza
301 Upper Thomson Road, #01-110, Singapore 574408
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 3.15pm (last order 2.45pm), 5pm – 9.30pm (last order 9pm), Mon – Sun
Tel: +65 6261 5602

Dunearn Village @ Bukit Timah
896 Dunearn Road, #01-35, Singapore 589472
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 9pm, Mon – Sun
Tel: +65 8976 8327
Website: hajime.com.sg
Order: hajimetonkatsuramen.oddle.me
Instagram: @hajime_tonkatsu_ramen
Facebook: hajimeSG