Kakuni – Japanese braised belly pork in mirin, sugar & soy sauce

This is a very simple kakuni recipe I picked up from youtube.

It is best done with an induction heater (like any slow-cooked braising items) as you can control the heat to the absolute minimum at 100W or 200W and run less risk of boiling off the liquid & getting the dish burnt!

You want to first immerse the belly pork into a pot of boiling water (or pour boiling water over the belly pork), remove it & place in a basin or bowl of cold water and ckean thoroughly; and then cut into 1 inch blocks like in the above picture.

Place the belly pork pieces in a pot over an induction heater (or your usual stove), add in 1 cup of mirin & 2 cups of water (enough to cover the belly pork) – I also add 1 tablespoon of sugar; bring to boil & then turn to low heat for 1hr. Add 1 to 2 tablespoon of soy sauce (to taste) – the soy sauce is added later so the belly pork will retain more moisture -and braise at low heat for another 1 hr, and voila!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 400g belly pork
• 1 cup mirin
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

Directions:

1. Wash belly pork & place in boiling water. remove & place in cold water & clean thoroughly. cut belly pork into 1 inch blocks.
2. place belly pork pieces in a pot. add 1 cup of mirin, 2 cups of water & 1 tbsp of sugar, enough to cover the belly pork completely.
3. put the pot on an induction heater (or stove) and bring content to boil. turn to low heat and braise at low heat for 1 hr. add 2 tbsp soy sauce and braise for another 1 hr. Serve.