Buta Kaku Ni - Japanese Braised Pork Bellies

4.9 from 10 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: Main Dish

Cuisines: Japanese

Ingredients: Pork

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 15 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon oil
• 600 gram pork belly, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 50 gram ginger, thinly sliced. It is not necessary to peel the ginger as long as they are clean.
• 4-6 pearl onions/French shallots. You can even use one Japanese long green onion (negi), cut into 2” pieces if you wish.
• 4 tablespoon frozen green peas/frozen edamame
• Sauce
• 400 ml (1 2⁄3 cup) dashi stock, preferably homemade dashi, or use 400 ml water + 1 teaspoon instant bonito dashi granules
• 200 ml (13.5 tablespoon) sake (Japanese rice wine)
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 50 ml (3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) mirin
• 100 ml (6 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon) soy sauce, preferably low-sodium soy sauce

Instructions

1. Sear pork bellies. First, heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan and oil are hot, sear pork belly cubes evenly until all sides are brown. Set aside.
2. Boil pork bellies. Place seared pork belly cubes in a pot, then add enough water to cover the pork. Simmer for 1 hour, or until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Cook pork bellies with sauce. Arrange pork belly cubes neatly in a clean pot with ginger, dashi, and sake. Cover the pot, and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients (sugar, mirin, and soy sauce) and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
4. Add vegetables. Finally, add pearl onions/shallots and frozen green peas/edamame into the pot. Continue simmering for 5 minutes.
5. To serve. Turn off the heat, and divide the dish into 4 individual serving bowls. Serve the dish hot with steamed white rice.

Notes

• (1) Buta kaku ni is very delicious eaten straight away, but if you are patience and are willing to wait overnight, you will be rewarded with an even more delicious dish!
• (2) You can store the cooked dish in an air-tight container in the fridge, then when you want to serve, you can easily remove any excess fat in the dish (if there’s any!). To serve, simply reheat the dish gently in a pot on a stovetop.