Braised Pork Belly Over Rice.
This is a simple – but incredible - way to eat pork belly.
Perfect for a hungry family on the weekends – or for a fancy lunchbox.
It’s our take on Buta Kakuni, a Japanese braised pork dish.
Today, we’ll braise a piece of pork belly until the meat turns tender, juicy and packed full of umami.
During this process, the soy braising sauce will reduce into a glaze – which we will drizzle over our sliced pork pieces for maximum flavor.
Then eat it alongside soft pieces of garlic.
Sounds amazing no?
Cooking notes for Braised Pork Belly:
Korean markets will sell whole pork belly – ask for "tong-samgyeopsal" or show them this text (통삼겹살 – 보쌈용).
Remember to squeeze the water out of the bok-choy after blanching - you don't water to gush out when you bite into it.
For this dish, I highly recommend doing a 6-minute egg.
A 6-minute egg will make a very gushy, soft-boiled egg. However, we will continue to braise it, so it takes up the flavor of the soy sauce (resulting it in the egg below).
Important: After we sear the meat, make sure to pat-off the excess oil with a few paper towels. This will keep the braising sauce from getting too oily.
After braising, you don’t need to rest the meat. That’s only necessary when cooking meat in high heat like roasting, broiling or grilling.
I recommend cutting the meat pieces thinly – makes it taste better and easier to chew!
Important: You should braise the pork initially on a medium heat >> then a medium-low heat.
If for some reason, your soy sauce is reducing too quickly, add in a dash of water.
Bon Appetit – and I hope you try it out. This is a fail-proof recipe 😉
If you do, tag us on IG with a pic – we love seeing pictures of your dishes in the morning.
(P.s. If you’re cooking alone, don’t get bored. Consider listening to our latest podcast episode while you cook!)
Ingredients
- 500 gram Whole Cut Pork Belly (통삼겹살 - 보쌈용)
- 4 Bok Choy
- 4 Eggs
- 10 cloves Garlic
Braising Sauce
- 20 Whole Black Pepper
- 4 Bay Leaves
- 3 Dashima Pieces
- 1 Small Piece Ginger (~size of your thumb)
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- ¼ Cup Mirin
- ¼ Cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ Cup Water
Instructions
Prep Steps
- Wash the 4 pieces of bok choy. Bring a pot of water to boil. Once its boiling, blanche the bok choy for 20 seconds. Take them out with a strainer (but don't throw out the water - we'll use for eggs next). Cool them down immediately in cold water. Then squeeze the water out of them. Set them aside - they'll continue to drip off excess water.
- Now, back to the boiling pot. Place in a few big pinches of salt and few splashes of vinegar. Carefully place-in 4 eggs. Set a timer for 6 minutes. Afterwards, drain the water and cool the eggs in cold water. Peel and set aside for later.
- Take out 10 cloves of garlic. Trim off the ends. Set aside.
Make Braising Sauce
- Mix the following ingredients: 20 Whole Black Pepper, 4 Bay Leaves, 3 Dashima Squares, a small piece of Ginger (size of your thumb, cut it in half), Sugar (2 Tablespoons), Mirin (¼ Cup), Soy Sauce (¼ Cup), Water (¼ Cup).
Sear Pork Belly
- If your piece of pork belly is long, cut it in half - so it can fit into your frying pan.
- Before we sear, use a few paper towels and pat-off any moisture from the meat (this is important for searing!)
- Now, place a thick-bottomed frying pan on high heat. Place in just a drizzle of oil.
- Once its hot, place in the pork belly pieces. Sear them on all four sides until you get nice golden-brown color.
- Then, take them out of the pan and let them rest for 5 minutes.
- Important: Now, wrap the seared pork pieces in a few paper towels and pat-them down - this will remove excess oil from the surface of the seared meat. It will prevent our braising sauce from getting too oily.
Braise Meat
- Now, give your braising sauce another good mix - that's because the sugar will have settled to the bottom. Afterwards, pour it out into a large frying wok or pot.
- Place the wok on a medium heat. Now place the seared pork pieces in.
- When it comes to a boil, set the timer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the dashima pieces. Flip the meat over and reduce the heat to a medium-low. We'll let it continue to braise for another 5 minutes.
- Once the timer is up, check the status of your braise. The braise should be producing large bubbles. (If not, continue to boil for another 5 minutes).
- If you see large bubbles, now it's the time to add-in the garlic pieces and soft-boiled eggs. Let it braise for a FINAL 5 minutes.
- After a total of 20-25 minutes of braising, the braising sauce will have reduced & thickened.
- Turn off the heat. Take out each of the ingredients and set aside for cutting + toppings.
- Now, pour the remaining braising sauce into a small cup (to use as glaze).
- Use a knife and cut the pork belly into thin pieces. Taste one as you cut 😉
- Scoop some rice into a bowl. Place the sliced pork belly pieces on top, then add the bok choy, braised garlic and boiled egg.
- Finish by adding a few drizzle of the glaze over each of the ingredients.
- Bon Appetit!
Diane T says
This is a variation of the Shanghai hong shao rou. However I’m quite amazed that it only takes 25 min to make; which is like half the time required for hong shao rou. Well executed and looks so delish!
Chris Fujimoto says
as a chef, this dish is an UMAMI BOMB. Delicious! I added gochujang paste and shiro miso as well go up the flavor and it took it to a whole bother level. I seasoned the bok Choi Goma ae style and did fresh kimchi instead of dashima and that pickled flavor is the nice balance. Mahalo for this recipe! I will definitely make it again!
Lyndsey says
Seriously incredible and easy recipe (made even easier with the video)! Thank you so much! This should be at the forefront of Google searches for pork belly recipes!
Heidi C says
Could I use pork finger ribs for this recipe?
Al May says
I just made this recipe today. Oh man! So delicious! It was a hit with my son.
Linda says
I've been following your easy recipes that i thought I can never make. I made this and it was delicious but i did use less soy sauce because the last time i made braised ribs it was too salty. thanks for all the great easy tutorials!
Natalia says
Just made this recipe, and it's AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and allowing me to have a wonderful cooking and tasting experience.