Buta No Kakuni Braised Pork Belly
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Sometimes it can be hard to resist to the appeal of rich, mouth-watering food that makes you feel deliciously guilty. Japanese braised pork belly called buta no kakuni is definitely one of these guilty pleasures. Hugely popular in Japan, buta no kakuni is often enjoyed by Japanese salarymen who enjoy it with an ice cold beer in traditional izakaya bars.

Buta no kakuni means square simmered pork in Japanese and is a specialty of Nagasaki from the southern island of Kyushu. Although originating from Chinese cuisine, Japanese braised pork belly is simmered in a mix of classic Japanese flavours which gives it an amazing taste and a melt-in-the-mouth texture!

If you are tempted by this tantalising dish, it takes a bit of time to cook, but is absolutely worth following our recipe and making for yourself!

2-3 people 10 minutes 140 minutes spend

Ingredients

• 450g Pork Belly
• 60ml Soy Sauce
• 3 tbs Cooking Sake
• 450ml Dashi
• 2 tbs Mirin

• 3 tbs Sugar
• Grated Ginger
• 1 Spring Onion – chopped
• 4 Eggs – hard boiled

How to prepare

Begin by tenderising the slices of pork belly with a meat mallet or the back of a knife. Make sure that the pork belly is pressed back into its original shape and then slice into cubes about 2cm wide.
Grab a frying pan and start heating up a little cooking oil. Cook your pork on both sides for about 5 minutes and remove any excess oil with a paper towel once fully cooked through.
Now fill a saucepan with water and add the cooked pork cubes with grated ginger and sliced onion. Place over a high heat until the water boils, then decrease to a medium heat and allow it to simmer for approximately one hour.

Once the pork has simmered long enough, transfer it to another sauce pan and add the dashi, cooking sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce.
Finally add some more ginger and cook over a high heat until the ingredients come to a boil. Cover the pan with aluminium foil, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for another hour. Add the hard boil eggs to the pan for the last 20 minutes.

You can serve your braised belly pork by itself as a snack or on a bowl of cooked rice for a complete meal. Check out our shochu selection for a drink that will truly enhance the taste of pork.

Tips and information

• In order to make your meat even more tender, you can spread some katakuriko starch powder on each side before cooking.

• The longer you boil your pork for during the initial boiling stage, the more tender it will be. If you have time, try boiling for 2-3 hours for deliciously tender bite! Second plus, your pork will contain less fat.