Butano Kakani : Sweet Braised Pork

I adore Japanese food.  It's simple, delicious and there's such a huge variety of meals to choose from.

A couple years ago I spent about 6 months getting my hands on every Japanese cook book I could find, trying loads of cooking methods and recipes (I lost a few kilos too, it's so healthy).  I discovered lots of easy meals that I could cook after work and some more involved meals that I could stir and add too while I potted around the house at the weekend.  We still enjoy regular Japanese inspired meals, Sushi is something we all enjoy quite regularly along with my Soba Noodle and Miso Soup.

With purchasing an entire home-kill pig we get a few cuts that I would never usually buy - like pork belly.  Roasted pork belly is nice but makes a huge mess and still retains a lot of the fat - this way of cooking belly is really good, steamed, browned then simmered in a tasty broth, a lot of the fat rendered off.  The miso paste was not in the original recipe but I find it rounds off the dish nicely.

You could steam the pork the day before and refrigerate so it's makes for a faster meal the next day.

Sweet Braised Pork : Butano Kakani
Serves 4

500g Pork Belly, Bones and Skin Removed
1cm Disk of Ginger Root, Skin on
2C Dashi Stock (or Beef Stock if you don't have seaweed and fish flakes hanging around like I do)
3T Mirin
¼C Soy Sauce
¼C Brown Sugar
1t Miso Paste, Heaped

Cut pork belly into 2.5cm cubes and steam over simmering water, covered, for 90 minutes until tender (heaps of fat comes of this way).  Heat a pan over medium heat and brown steamed belly pieces on all sides, drain off fat.  Quarter the piece of ginger and add to the pan with stock, mirin, soy sauce and sugar.  Simmer gently for 45 minutes.  Lift pork out and set aside.  Bring broth to a rolling boil and reduce by a quarter.  Remove from heat and discard ginger pieces.  Thin miso paste with a couple of tablespoons of water then stir into broth.  Return pork to broth to warm then serve with steamed rice and vegetables.  Hot mustard goes really well with this dish.