jyanjyan don

Recently, we stopped at a restaurant serving Kyushu style food. Kyushu, in case you didn't know it, is the large island on the southern end of the Japanese chain. Hokkaido is the northern island, Honshu is the main island, and Kyushu on the south and. It literally means nine sandbanks, or possibly nine provinces.

In any case, they had some regional food. I had jyanjyan don. Donburi means it is in a round bowl, rice with something on top. The jyanjyan refers to something tossed on top. At this restaurant it meant several slices of deep brown meat. It was a little sweet, falling apart tender. It reminded me of Southern barbecue actually. Apparently they take a pork roast and cook it very slowly, basting it with some kind of sauce. Then for jyanjyan don, put some hot rice in the bowl, slice off some well-done bits to lay on top, and splash a bit of sauce on. Add a little sliced green onion topping. Serve. Excellent!

So I'm looking forward to trying some more Kyushu food sometime. Maybe I'll have another jyanjyan don!