Japanese

Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly)

Name: Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 2 lb pork belly; 2 tbsp grated ginger; 3 scallions; 1/2 cup soy sauce; 1/3 cup mirin; 1/4 cup sugar; 1/3 cup sake

Tomoko @tomoko_osaka

Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly) is Japanese home cooking, eaten at dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

90 min Involved Dairy free

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

2 lb pork belly
2 tbsp grated ginger
3 scallions
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup sake

How to cook it

Cut the pork belly into large chunks and simmer in plain water 40 minutes to render some fat, then drain and rinse.
Return the pork to the pot with the ginger, half the scallions, sake, and enough water to cover, and simmer 30 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar and simmer uncovered, turning occasionally, until deeply glazed and fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.
Slice the remaining scallions and scatter over before serving.

Watch how to cook Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Pork Kakuni Recipe (Japanese Braised Pork Belly) Play the video

Serve it with

A Japanese dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

Something to sip
- Asari no Osuimono (Clear Clam Soup)
  
  15 min
The cooked vegetable
- Agedashi Tofu (Fried Tofu in Dashi Sauce)
  
  20 min
What it is eaten with
- Genmai Gohan (Steamed Brown Rice)
  
  45 min
The sharp little thing
- Beni Shoga (Red Pickled Ginger)
  
  2 min

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly) carries gluten and soy. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	Yes	Asa Sarada (Morning Cabbage and Corn Salad)
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	Yes	Asa Sarada (Morning Cabbage and Corn Salad)
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 610 kcal
Protein: 14 g
Carbs: 13 g
Fat: 56 g
Fiber: 0 g
Sugar: 8 g
Sodium: 1200 mg
Saturated fat: 20 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly) takes about 90 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a proper project. It is eaten at dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.