Yamato Pork: Nara Pride of Brand Pork

Yamato Pork is a brand pork raised within Nara Prefecture, known for its fine-grained meat and mellow, sweet fat. With little gaminess and an easy taste, it can be enjoyed in a wide range of dishes such as breaded cutlets, shabu-shabu, and hot pots. As one of Nara livestock brands alongside Yamato Beef and Yamato meat chicken, it is a heavyweight of Nara cuisine that you can savor at local restaurants and butcher shops.

Highlights

The appeal of Yamato Pork lies in the balance between tender lean meat and fine, non-cloying fat. Yamato Pork is born from a Duroc sire crossed with a dam of Large Yorkshire and Landrace, raised under a system that certifies producers, wholesalers, and shops and manages raising information. It resists drying out even when cooked and keeps a juicy texture. Served at cutlet shops, Western-style restaurants, and grilled-meat eateries around Nara city, each place adds its own touch in cooking method and seasoning. A simple salt grill that draws on the quality of the meat, or a hearty breaded cutlet, lets you clearly feel its merits.

Enjoying the Seasons

In summer, a light cold shabu-shabu or saute makes it easy to eat even in the heat. In autumn and winter, a hot pot or shabu-shabu lets the sweet fat melt into the broth and warm the body. For lunch between sightseeing, a freshly fried cutlet set is a deeply satisfying plate.

Access and Basic Information

You can taste it at restaurants and butcher shops around Kintetsu Nara Station and JR Nara Station. It is often savored at specialists such as cutlet and shabu-shabu shops, so it is reassuring to look up serving shops in advance. Some stores sell it as fresh meat, making it suitable for souvenirs or cooking at home.

Practical Travel Notes

• Yamato Pork falls in a more accessible price range than Yamato Beef, and you can enjoy it casually at lunch, such as a cutlet set. It is perfect for a hearty midday meal between sightseeing.
• Since a breaded cutlet is best fresh from the fryer, aiming for right after opening or an early lunch to avoid crowds lets you enjoy it hot without waiting.
• As a budget note, a cutlet set or shabu-shabu lunch is affordable, while a specialist course or premium cuts is a little more. Fresh meat can also be chosen as a souvenir for home.
• Yamato Pork pairs well with Yamato vegetables, and you can combine Nara ingredients in a hot pot or saute with seasonal vegetables. In shabu-shabu, the sweet fat melts into the broth, delicious right down to the finish.

A Quick Tip

To fully enjoy the sweetness of the fat, simple cooking such as shabu-shabu or a salt grill is recommended. For a breaded cutlet, eat it soon after frying to enjoy the crisp coating and juicy meat at the same time. Choosing a shop that displays the brand name lets you reliably confirm the taste of Yamato Pork.

Sightseeing Checklist

• Budget guide: Cuts and processed products cover a wide range, while a dish at a specialist restaurant is a special meal
• Where to eat it: Specialist shops, restaurants and butchers across Nara Prefecture
• Best time of day: Lunch or dinner; at popular restaurants a reservation is reassuring
• Avoiding the crowds: A reservation is recommended at the famous restaurants
• Combine it with: Tonkatsu and shabu-shabu, Yamato vegetables and local Nara sake

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Definition of the brand: A three-way crossbred pig, using a Duroc boar recommended by the Nara Prefecture Livestock Technology Center as the sire and a Large White x Landrace crossbred sow as the dam. The pigs are raised at designated farms within Nara Prefecture under rearing and hygiene management guidance from the prefectural Livestock Technology Center and the Livestock Hygiene Service Center, fattened for about 6 months to about 120 kg, and shipped to the Nara Prefecture Meat Center.
• Feed: During the fattening stage they are given a dedicated feed called "Yamato Pork 1300". It contains no animal-derived ingredients at all, which are a cause of off-odors, and is a high-calorie feed based on grains blended with confectionery flour, bread crumbs, brown rice and the like. The oleic acid content is 43.5% (surveyed by the Nara Prefecture Livestock Division, average of 100 head; ordinary domestic pork is 39.2% according to the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 7th revised edition).
• Certification and management system: The Nara Prefecture Yamato Pork Distribution Promotion Council (established on February 8 in Heisei 20, 2008) designates and certifies producers, wholesalers and retailers, and compiles data on feed given, rearing environment, hygiene management, breed and so on for each producer. Carcasses recognized as Yamato Pork are stamped, passed from designated wholesalers to designated retailers together with a "Yamato Pork Certificate", and a sticker is applied at the shop.
• Where to buy and eat it: The "designated retailers", "designated restaurants", "processors" and "antenna shops" certified by the council. An up-to-date list of outlets is published on the council's official website (there are also designated restaurants outside Nara Prefecture).
• Inquiries: Nara Prefecture Yamato Pork Distribution Promotion Council (Livestock Division, Department of Food and Agriculture, Nara Prefecture / 30 Noborioji-cho, Nara City, tel. 0742-27-7450, open 9:00 to 17:00).
• Points to note: Since June 12 in Heisei 27 (2015), the sale and serving of pork meat and offal (liver and so on) for raw consumption has been prohibited under the standards of the Food Sanitation Act. Because of risks such as hepatitis E virus, parasites and Salmonella, the meat must be heated to 63°C for at least 30 minutes at its center (or an equivalent or greater treatment such as 75°C for at least 1 minute). Even with shabu-shabu or grilled meat, always cook it through to the center before eating.

Note: Opening hours and prices differ from shop to shop.

(Sources: Nara Prefecture Yamato Pork Distribution Promotion Council official website; Nara Prefecture official website, "Yamato Pork"; Food Sanitation Act standards published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and local governments regarding the ban on selling and serving raw pork)