Japanese Braised Pork Belly
Quick answer
- Total time
- 110 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 8
About this dish
Thick cubes of pork belly are blanched for five minutes to remove impurities, then simmered in water with ginger and green onion for fifty minutes until the fat layers turn translucent and completely tender.
Read more
The parboiled meat transfers to a fresh pot with soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, where it braises over medium-low heat for another thirty minutes as the liquid reduces by half and lacquers each piece in a dark, glossy coat. Mirin carries off residual off-odors along with its alcohol as it heats, while leaving a gentle sweetness behind in the meat. Ginger neutralizes the musky, funky quality that pork belly fat tends to develop during prolonged cooking. Boiled eggs added to the braising liquid absorb the soy-mirin mixture through their whites, turning amber and picking up savory flavor all the way through to the yolk. Cooling the finished dish completely and reheating it once deepens the texture further: the collagen that dissolved during cooking sets into a firm gel while cold, then melts again on reheating, thickening the sauce into something close to a demi-glace. Skimming the solidified fat from the chilled surface removes excess grease without stripping any of the flavor.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Heat
Cut 900 g pork belly into 6 to 8 cm chunks.
Blanch them in actively boiling water for 5 minutes, then rinse under cold water, rubbing the surface lightly to remove foam, loose proteins, and any remaining impurities.
- 2Control
Put the pork, 900 ml water, 25 g ginger, and 50 g green onion in a pot.
Simmer over low heat for 50 minutes, skimming foam as it appears so the broth stays clean and the pork flavor stays clear.
- 3Finish
When chopsticks slide into the pork with little resistance, lift the pieces into a clean pot.
Strain the first cooking liquid, discard the ginger and green onion, and reserve only 300 ml for the braising sauce.
- 4Finish
Add 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 4 tablespoons mirin, 1.5 tablespoons sugar, and 4 boiled eggs to the pork.
Pour in the reserved 300 ml broth and gently stir until the sugar dissolves without breaking the eggs.
- 5Control
Braise over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, spooning the sauce over the pork and eggs every 5 minutes.
Keep the simmer gentle and shake the pot lightly if the sauce thickens near the bottom.
- 6Finish
Turn off the heat when the sauce has reduced by half and the pork looks dark brown and glossy.
Rest for 10 minutes, or cool completely and reheat once after skimming solidified fat for a cleaner finish.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Thick pork belly cubes slow-simmered in ginger and leek for a translucent, tender finish.
- Finish cue
- Turn off the heat when the sauce has reduced by half and the pork looks dark brown and glossy.
- Storage and reheating
- Cool and reheat once for deeper flavor absorption.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
110min, 8 ingredients
Category median
48min, 8 ingredients
Based on 247 recipes
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