Japanese Braised Pork (Buta No Kakuni)

This traditional Japanese braised pork stew is inspired by my love for all things Japanese. My friend Tammy gave me her mother’s recipe (simple and traditional) on a napkin. I have added a few twists but this is still a simple, traditional recipe.

The stew is pure comfort food—tender and delicious pork shoulder (make sure to use shoulder or pork belly since other cuts will be dry) with a light savory broth over rice. The pork and daikon are braised for a few hours in a light broth of sake, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, and brown sugar. The outcome melts in your mouth and your soul. It is easy and worth the few hours of braising it requires (shortened if you use a pressure cooker or Instant Pot).

I haven’t been to Japan but I am dying to visit and experience the snow, the food, the simplicity of design that Japan showcases. If you want to invoke Japan, make this dish tonight to take an instant trip. Gather up the ingredients and get cooking.

• 2 pounds pork shoulder or pork belly (not tenderloin or other cuts) trimmed of fat and cut into 3-inch chunks

• 2 4-inch pieces of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin slices

• 1 large (2 pounds) japanese radish (aka daikon radish) peeled and cut into 1-inch rounds and cut in half or quarters to be about 2-3 inches in length

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 cup of water

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 cup sake

• 1/2 cup mirin (which is a sweet rice wine). If you can’t find mirin add 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar and 2 additional teaspoons of brown sugar

• 3 green onions thinly sliced for serving

Cut and trim the pork of excess fat and tendon. Put the pork chunks and the slices of one of your ginger pieces in a pot and cover with water. Bring the pot to a slow boil and cook it at a simmer for 5-10 minutes to get rid of some of the fat and the odor that resides in it. After 5-10 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and dump it all into a colander. Rinse the pork with cool water and discard the ginger. Clean the pot and return the pork to the cleaned pot.

Peel and cut the daikon radish. Add the radish to the pot with the pork.

Julienne the remaining ginger slices and cut the strips into 2-inch lengths. Add them to the pot with the water, sake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (or a mirin substitute). The liquid should cover the meat and radish, if it doesn’t, add the ingredients in the appropriate proportions or just add more water. Bring the stew to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and braise the pork for 3-4 hours (until it is like butter when you bite a piece of pork…tender). Check the pot every hour and add enough water to cover the meat and radish if the broth reduces below the stew. Stir gently before returning the lid to the pot.

If you have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the stew from the heat or switch off the saute option on your Instant Pot. Transfer the stew to your pressure cooker or cover your Instant Pot. Cook the stew on mid pressure for 20 minutes. Release the pressure according to the directions.

I serve the stew over jasmine rice with sliced green onion and wilted spinach with garlic, ginger, and sesame. If you don’t want to wilt spinach, you and just go with the green onions and toasted sesame seeds or a sprinkle of Furikake (a sesame seed, seaweed topping that you can buy in most asian markets or make at home).

This goes out to my sister in law Kate. Kate gave me a nice piece of pork shoulder. She travels to Asia regularly (pre-Covid) and will love the familiarity of this stew.

Enjoy it with a Pinot Noir. The wine and pork share a sweet succulence and smoky undertone (don’t I sound advanced)!