Morimoto's 10-Hour Pork Kakuni
Also called Japanese braised pork belly, buta no kakuni
Pork belly braised twice, glazed with its own reduced liquid and broiled, served over scallop congee.
- Makes
- 4 servings
Ingredients
Amounts are for the recipe. Sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.
Pork and first braise
Second braise
To serve
Amounts worked out from the other system are rounded.
Method
Sear the pork. Heat the oven to 250°F (120°C). Pat the pork belly (905 g2 lb) dry and season lightly with salt. In a Dutch oven over high heat, sear it on all sides until deeply golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes a side.
First braise, 8 hours. Sprinkle the rice (285 g1½ cups) into the pot around the pork, not on top of it, where it would dry out and stick. Add cold water to cover the pork by about an inch. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, cover, and braise in the oven for 8 hours.
Chill overnight. Carefully lift the pork out of the rice slurry; it will be very fragile. Discard the slurry. Wrap the pork gently and refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to 2 days, so it firms up enough to cut cleanly.
Cut. Cut the chilled pork crosswise into 4 pieces, about 2½ inches (6 cm) wide.
Second braise, 2 hours. In a heavy saucepan, combine the sake (420 ml1¾ cups), soy sauce (65 g4 tbsp), sugar (25 g2 tbsp) and water (950 g4 cups). Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the pork pieces in, reduce to the barest simmer, partially cover, and braise 2 hours. Cook the congee meanwhile.
Reduce the liquid. Move the pork to a plate and cover with foil. Strain the liquid into a clean saucepan and boil steadily until reduced to about 1 cup of glossy, syrupy sauce, 25 to 35 minutes. Stir often once it drops below 1½ cups; it concentrates fast at the end and can burn.
Broil. Set the pork fat side up on a foil-lined sheet tray and brush the tops generously with the sauce. Broil close to the element for 2 to 3 minutes, watching constantly, until dark and lacquered. The window between glazed and burnt is about 30 seconds.
Serve. Ladle Scallop Congee into deep bowls, stirring in sliced scallion greens if you like. Top each with a piece of pork, spoon over more sauce, and finish with a drizzle of Scallion-Ginger Oil. Karashi on the side is traditional.
Notes
- The brown rice is not for eating. It breaks down into a starchy slurry that buffers the heat and renders the fat slowly while keeping the meat tender.
- The seasoning is deliberately savory and restrained, with no spices. Most kakuni is sweeter.
- Use cheap drinking sake (Gekkeikan, Sho Chiku Bai, Ozeki), not cooking sake, which has added salt and sweeteners.
- The broil is an addition to Morimoto's version, to caramelize the fat cap. Cold or room-temperature pieces hold their shape under the broiler better than pork hot from the braise.
- Timeline. The first braise can run overnight, with the second braise and the congee the next afternoon or evening, once the pork has chilled at least 8 hours. The scallion oil and the congee's rice soak also start the night before.
- Reheats well, arguably better on day 2. Store the pork in its sauce and the congee separately.
- Freezing. The best point is after the first braise and the overnight chill, before cutting. Wrap tightly; it keeps 1 to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then cut and continue.