On Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 1:59:41 AM UTC-8, dsi1 wrote:
> On Monday, December 7, 2015 at 7:49:14 PM UTC-10, Travis McGee wrote:
> > On 12/8/2015 12:31 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> > > On Mon, 07 Dec 2015 21:11:43 -0800, isw wrote:
> > >
> > >> I recall that when I was a kid <mumble> years ago, Lea & Perrins was
> > >> strong and peppery hot. Or maybe it was just that I was a kid. I loved
> > >> to make roast beef sandwiches with nothing more than some sliced beef
> > >> and a *lot* of Lea & Perrins on white bread.
> > >>
> > >> Anyhow, these days, it seems like the stuff is only a shadow of its
> > >> former self. Anybody else think that too?
> > >>
> > >> So is there another brand -- from Asia, maybe -- that's taken over?
> > >>
> > >> What's your favorite brand of that famous sauce?
> > >
> > > Nothing comes close to L&P. I've tried all the other available [to
> > > me] brands and they are all inferior. The closest to actual U.S
> > > version L&P's is actually Walmart's Great Value brand at half the
> > > price. You can tell by the bottle/cap/printing/taste that it's made
> > > by L&P, just tweaked a little so it's only 80% as good. Whereas
> > > French's, Heinz, Crown and Blackwell, Sarsons, etc.. are only 30-40%
> > > as good as L&P.
> > >
> > > The English version of L&P is different from the one distributed here
> > > in the States, but I have never tasted that one. I don't think the
> > > taste has diminished much that I can't attribute to my aging taste
> > > buds, but I use it fairly often - about a pint every 4-5 months.
> > >
> > > If you're alluding to ponzu, Bull Dog(tm), or tonkatsu sauces, well -
> > > they're a whole different thing, IMO.
> > >
> > > -sw
> > >
> >
> > The Japanese tonkatsu sauces, which by definition were meant to be used
> > on Japanese pork cutlets, are all based on sugar,fruit puree, soy sauce,
> > and spices. My favorite is Kikkoman, which I first encountered at chain
> > in SoCal called "Steer 'n Stein". At the time it was marketed as a steak
> > sauce, and, under a slightly different label, as tonkatsu sauce.
>
> Tonkatsu sauce is great stuff. Back when I was a kid and young adult, tonkatsu was a favorite dish in Hawaii. These days, it's been replaced with chicken katsu. I cannot say why that happened but this state is crazy for chicken katsu. If I see tonkatsu on a menu, I'd be inclined to order it because it tends to be hard to find.
>
> The sauce served with chicken katsu in restaurants is typically not real Japanese tonkatsu sauce but Hawaiian tonkatsu sauce. Some of these concoctions are pretty good and some are so-so. The good stuff is the bottled sauce from Japan.
>
> http://tastyislandhawaii.com/2009/12...auce-shootout/

I never cared for tonkatsu sauce -- whatever they serve with tonkatsu here
on the mainland, so I eat it plain.
I was surprised that none of the katsu sauces had fermented fish in it,
considering that I think of fermented fish as an Asian thing, and it
certainly is packed with umami.