Iragimun, Green Papaya with Pork and Miso

Name: Iragimun, Green Papaya with Pork and Miso
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: unripe green papaya 500 g; water for blanching papaya 1500 ml; pork belly 150 g; water for pork broth 600 ml; dried kombu 10 g; atsuage fried tofu 200 g; bonito dashi 250 ml; miso 2.5 tbsp; sugar 0.5 tsp

Quick answer

Total time: 55 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 9

About this dish

Unripe green papaya is treated here as a vegetable, and once cooked its firm but tender bite is often compared to daikon.

In the Yaeyama islands of Okinawa, families picked it from trees planted near the house for ordinary meals, and also made the dish around the equinoctial observances. Pork, kombu, and atsuage (thick fried tofu) cook with it in small amounts of bonito and pork broth, seasoned with miso and a little sugar. The liquid ends up as a light coating rather than soup, which keeps every piece in shape and the miso mild.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

unripe green papaya

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water for blanching papaya

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Instructions

5 steps

1

Peel 500g green papaya, halve it, scrape out the seeds, and cut into short 5mm-thick batons.

Boil 1500ml blanching water over high heat, cook the papaya for 2 minutes, and drain when the edges turn slightly translucent but the centers remain firm.
2

Cut 150g pork belly into strips 4cm long and 1cm wide.

Put it in a pot with 600ml pork-broth water, bring to a boil, skim, and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Remove when cooked through and the center reaches at least 71°C.
3

Strain the pork cooking liquid through a fine sieve and measure 250ml.

Wipe 10g dried kombu with a damp cloth and cut into 5mm strips. Pour hot water over 200g atsuage to remove surface oil, then cut it into 2cm pieces.
4

Combine 250ml pork broth, 250ml bonito dashi, papaya, pork, kombu, and atsuage in a wide pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce to medium-low, set the lid ajar, and cook for 10 minutes.
5

Ladle 3 tablespoons broth into a bowl and dissolve 2.5 tablespoons miso and 0.5 teaspoon sugar in it.

Reduce the pot to low, stir in the miso mixture, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. When only a shallow layer of liquid remains, turn the ingredients 2 or 3 times to coat and remove from the heat.