🇯🇵 Japan
Japanese Braised Pork Belly (Kakuni), made with supermarket ingredients
The authentic flavor in three easy steps with what any supermarket sells, in metric, for students and anyone cooking far from home (serves 2).
95 min2 to wash
3 lazy steps
- 1
Cut 450 g pork belly into 4 cm cubes, simmer in a pot with water, 2 stalks green onion, and 1 thumb-sized piece ginger for 45 minutes, then drain.
- 2
Return pork belly to the pot with 500 ml dashi stock, 120 ml sake, 60 ml mirin, 60 ml soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar, and 2 hard-boiled eggs.
- 3
Cover with a drop lid and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes until melt-in-your-mouth tender, then serve with 1 tsp Japanese mustard (Karashi).
🇯🇵 How it's eaten in Japan
In Japan, Kakuni is served with a dab of yellow karashi mustard on the side to balance the rich fat.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- pork belly -450 g
- green onion -2 stalks
- ginger - 1 thumb-sized piece
- dashi stock -500 ml
Swap: chicken broth - 500 ml（Everyday staple）
- sake -120 ml
Swap: dry sherry - 120 ml（Similar rich aroma）
- mirin -60 ml
Swap: dry white wine - 60 ml + 1 tbsp sugar（Sweetness and gloss）
- soy sauce -60 ml
- sugar -2 tbsp
- hard-boiled eggs- 2
- Japanese mustard (Karashi) -1 tsp
Swap: Dijon mustard - 1 tsp（Pungent bite）
Authentic ingredients in Japan
- pork belly -450 g
- green onion -2 stalks
- ginger - 1 thumb-sized piece
- dashi stock -500 ml
- sake -120 ml
- mirin -60 ml
- soy sauce -60 ml
- sugar -2 tbsp
- hard-boiled eggs- 2
- Japanese mustard (Karashi) -1 tsp
Optional authentic touch
Pre-simmering in water with aromatics extracts excess fat and removes gamey odor before braising.
Wherever you live: Japan, Europe or anywhere else
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