My favorite Aunty Shizu made this savory, sweet pork belly for special occasions. This brings me back to the Sunday dinners where Aunty and Mom made hearty meals to start the week, that may be why I love leftovers so much! The trick to this bite of tenderness is boiling the belly before braising.
Auntie Shizu with flower leis leaving to join Auntie Chiyo in NYC, maybe 1964? Ojichan (Mom's dad) is holding me, those were the special days of traveling.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds pork belly
- 1 ½ C sake
- ¾ C shoyu
- 5 T ginger minced
- 1 ½ C monk fruit
- 1 ½ C mirin
- Green onions, garnish
Directions
- Fill a large pot with water, add pork belly.
- Bring to a rolling boil and turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain and rinse pork.
- Cut into 1 to 1½-inch pieces.
- In a large pot, add sake, shoyu and ginger, monk fruit and mirin and stir into pork pieces.
- bring to a boil.
- Add cut pork pieces to pot.
- Cover and simmer for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes for an hour.
- Cook for another 45 minutes uncovered until pork is tender.