Kakuni

Pork belly boiled twice before it is braised, so the braise itself stays clear and sweet.

Pork, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork belly, in one piece, skin on
• 200 ml sake
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 60 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 1 litre water
• 40 g ginger, sliced
• 6 spring onion tops
• 400 g daikon, in chunks
• 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
• 100 g rice, for the first boil

Method

1. BOILED TWICE BEFORE IT IS BRAISED, and both boils are discarded. The first with a handful of rice draws out blood and smell; the second plain removes the rice starch and most of the fat. Only then does it meet the sake and soy, which stay clear and taste of themselves instead of fighting pork fat.
2. Brown the block hard on all faces first in a dry pan, 10 minutes, before any boiling.
3. FIRST BOIL: cover with water, add the rice, and simmer 1 hour. The water will be grey and unpleasant. Throw it away and rinse the meat and pan.
4. SECOND BOIL: fresh water, 30 minutes. Throw that away too.
5. The belly should now be pale, clean and already tender enough to pierce.
6. Cut into 4 cm cubes only NOW. Cut before boiling, they shrink and fall apart.
7. Braise: sake, water, ginger and spring onion tops, brought to a simmer with the pork. Drop lid on. 1 hour.
8. SUGAR AND MIRIN FIRST, SOY TWENTY MINUTES LATER. Salt added early closes the surface and the sweetness never gets in -- the same order the nikujaga page uses and for the same reason.
9. Daikon and eggs in with the soy, 30 minutes.
10. LET IT COOL IN THE LIQUID, then reheat. The absorption happens as it cools, and this is noticeably better made the day before. Lift the set fat off the top before reheating.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes