# Pork belly Japanese style



## rami_m (Apr 10, 2016)

Tried this twice was good. But nowhere as good as the one I had in Tokyo. 

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/nagasaki-style-red-braised-pork-belly-buta-kakuni

If there are any tips or tricks you have please share. 
And yes I am keep thinking of moving to Japan. &#129300;


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## fujiyama (Apr 10, 2016)

Let me start by saying I don't have experience with authentic Japanese. 

But I have handled pork belly. What I did was cure the belly (including fat and bone) with a dry rub, then braise in a 50/50 hoisin & water bath. Once cooled remove the ribs and 'some' excess fat, cut into portions. Saute to your liking (more hoisin here is optional).

The cure is left to your imagination (think brown sugar, 5 spice, kosher, coriander, cumin, pepper etc).


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## WingKKF (Apr 10, 2016)

My guess is the main ingredient, the pork belly, is different from what they use in Tokyo than what you can normally get. There is something to the high standards of food ingredients produced in Japan. Moving to Japan is great, food wise, if you can afford it.


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## rami_m (Apr 11, 2016)

Thanks guys. The taste was quite good. It's the melt in the mouth texture that I am looking for. The amount of fat is key. But what else I need to adjust, temp? Cooking time For the first cook?


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## schanop (Apr 11, 2016)

Ingredient-wise, you can try to look for female Berkshire/black pig, from free-range or organic farms, expect to pay at least 18.99 a kg. Then if you want it softer, either make sure that heat during simmer is not too low for the 4 hours duration, or cook it a bit longer. 4 hours of good heat should make pork belly very tender already.


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## preizzo (Apr 11, 2016)

Of you cook it in the oven you will have better results. More stable temperature. Just my opinion &#128521;


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## schanop (Apr 11, 2016)

Oven is a good suggestion. A steam combi oven would be even better, if there is already one installed at home. In a combi oven, I usually cook with much smaller amount of liquid as the oven won't evaporate cooking liquid so much.


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## jklip13 (Apr 11, 2016)

The two big factors in bringing pork belly to a tender state is controlling collagen and protein. The connective tissue, collagen, gives the muscle a tough texture and the fat/skin a rubbery feel when raw. By simply boiling it for prolonged periods of time you will liquefy the collagen and render the muscle fork tender and the fat buttery. Unfortunately the protein in the muscle is not gonna do to well being boiled at 212F/100C . The protein will scrunch up and squeeze all the moisture out of the meat. It might seem tender because you've melted the collagen but it will taste very dry. No amount of sauce or stewing can undo this. In my limited experience, once you get the muscle of the pig above 180F/82C it's game over. This doesn't mean you need to buy an immersion circulator or a combi-oven but it does mean constant care and monitoring of your cooking liquid. The easiest way will probably be a stewing of the pork. Fully submerged stovetop, that way you can check and adjust your temperature as you go. I just did this yesterday with a 800g piece of pork belly and it took roughly 8 hours. Unless you have the perfect set up, this won't be the kind of think you can leave unattended for extended periods of time . Enjoy! Let us know how the next attempts go!


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## rami_m (Apr 11, 2016)

Thanks guys. That sounds excellent. Jklip that was exactly my issue so at least now I understand. I left it too long at too high a temp.

Now do I just dump the lot in the oven or change the method? I can just use the anova in the pot without bagging?


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## jklip13 (Apr 11, 2016)

I've never used an Anova but I would guess pumping pork broth through it would be a bad idea


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## spoiledbroth (Apr 12, 2016)

Marinate the pork belly for some time in sake and ginger.

Braise the pork belly with some big chunks of leek (Halved cleaned and tied with butchers twine if you don't want them in the final product, they will probably disintegrate entirely if you cut them down any more)

Cook on the stovetop, as someone else suggested. Better control, and I think that's where a lot of cooking happens in Japan. I have seen recipes for pork belly that use rice cookers...


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## Tall Dark and Swarfy (Apr 12, 2016)

I cook many variations of pork belly. Char-Siu and Seattle style are my favorites. I always use Berkshire bellies that I get whenever on sale at D'artagnan. Then sous vide at 150F for 72 hours. The skin actually dissolves and makes an unctuous sauce. 

No, I don't out broth through the circulator. Just bag everything up and in it goes. 

Once it comes out let it rest overnight. Then torch it up.


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## youkinorn (Apr 21, 2016)

I'd add that using good shoyu and good sake would probably help a lot with the final product, too. I used to buy the cheapest sake I could find for cooking, but was never happy with the result.


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## youkinorn (Apr 21, 2016)

Also, where did you have great buta no kakuni in Tokyo? I had some at a ramen placed called Suzuran (which is now in Ebisu) that was incredible.


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## rami_m (Apr 21, 2016)

I remember it was at shibuya. Let me look up the name.


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