Admittedly, I’m not really a fan of savory dishes that have more than just a hint of sweetness. There’s just something so wrong about it. But there are a few dishes I actually find good, excellent even: Thai-style braised pork (one of the very first recipes I featured on this blog), Chinese pork asado, and the bowl of tendon shown above from JiPan.
JiPan’s tendon has a tentsuyu (tempura sauce) that is decidedly sweeter than the usual. Rather than being sweetened with sugar, mirin – sweet Japanese cooking wine – is poured generously in the mix. The alcohol evaporates, leaving behind a beautiful sweetness that goes wonderfully with the savory shrimp and the properly-boiled rice.