In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Azabu Juban shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, there is a pork satay restaurant that has stolen the attention of the culinary world. This restaurant, called Abe-chan, is not only famous for its delicious taste, but also for controversial practices that have been carried out for almost the last six decades.
Abe-chan, founded in 1933 by the current owner’s grandfather, claims that one of the secrets of its success is that its sauce jars have not been cleaned for more than half a century.
In a popular television show in Japan, it was revealed that jars of this sauce were used for dipping pork skewers for the past sixty years, and the dark brown mass surrounding the jar was the sauce that had spilled and hardened over the decades.
This may disgust some people, but third-generation owner Abe-chan believes that the cleanliness of the jars has been one of the factors in the success of his family’s business.
