Kakuni Braised Pork Belly Soy-Mirin Method

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork belly, skin on, cut into 3–4 cm square blocks
• For the par-boil
• 1 stalk leek, halved lengthways
• 30 g fresh ginger, sliced into coins
• For the braising liquid
• 200 ml sake
• 100 ml mirin
• 100 ml soy sauce
• 30 g sugar
• To serve
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled
• 200 g spinach, blanched, dressed with sesame

Method

1. 1
   Place the pork belly blocks in a pot and cover with cold water. Add the leek and ginger. Bring to a boil and par-boil for 10 minutes. Drain, discard the aromatics, and rinse each block under cold running water. The water should run clear and the surface of the pork should be clean of grey foam and impurities.
2. 2
   Wipe out the pot. Add the sake and mirin and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat. Allow the alcohol to burn off for 2–3 minutes. The sharp, raw alcohol smell will give way to a rounded, sweet fragrance — this signals the alcohol has driven off and the liquid is ready to receive the soy.
3. 3
   Add the soy sauce and sugar to the pot. Stir briefly to dissolve the sugar. Nestle the par-boiled pork blocks into the liquid in a single layer. Cut a circle of baking paper to fit the interior of the pot and rest it directly on the surface of the liquid as an otoshibuta. Bring to the barest simmer — isolated bubbles breaking the surface, never a rolling boil. This is where the dish lives or dies: a boil converts the collagen but drives the muscle fibres apart, producing fibrous rather than silky pork; a bare simmer at this threshold for a full 3 hours yields blocks that tremble and yield under the slightest pressure.
4. 4
   After 2 hours of simmering, add the peeled hard-boiled eggs to the pot, turning them in the liquid. Continue at the same bare simmer for the remaining hour. The eggs should be evenly coloured a deep amber by the time simmering concludes.
5. 5
   Remove the pot from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight. The following day, lift and discard the solidified layer of fat from the surface. The braising liquid beneath will have set to a loose, trembling jelly.
6. 6
   Return the pot to medium heat. Gently reheat the pork and eggs in the liquid, turning the blocks occasionally, until the sauce reduces to a concentrated, glossy sweet-soy glaze that coats each cube. The surface of the pork should shine and the liquid should cling visibly rather than run freely from a spoon.
7. 7
   Arrange the pork blocks and halved eggs in bowls. Spoon the reduced glaze over each portion. Serve alongside the blanched spinach dressed with sesame and steamed white rice. The pork should offer no resistance whatsoever to a chopstick pressed against its side.