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Tokyo X

June 13, 2007 | 8:42 am

What is “Tokyo X”? It sounds like it could be the title of a Nobuyoshi Araki photo or a sequel to “The Fast and the Furious,” but it’s pork. The kind I always order at Park’s BBQ in Koreatown. Big, fat slabs of Tokyo X pork belly that sizzle and sputter when they hit the hot grill.

Tokyo X is a hybrid of Beijing Black pigs, English Berkshire and Duroc, first registered as a breed in Japan (where breeds such as Kurobuta and Super Golden are also popular) by the Tokyo Metropolitan Livestock Experiment Station as part of an effort to promote stock farming on the outskirts of Tokyo. It’s got plenty of marbling, so it’s tender and juicy and tasty.

At Park’s, it’s on the menu two ways, with or without the marinade. I opt for the marinated Tokyo X. Washed down with some cold Hite beer, it's fantastic.

Park's BBQ, 955 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 380-1717.

-- Betty Hallock