Japanese Pork Belly Kakuni & Eggs with Spicy Pickled Courgette Salad
Meat lovers’ delight. Meltingly tender sweet & savoury Japanese braised pork belly. Kakuni literally means “square simmered”. Serve with spicy pickled courgette salad and steamed rice.
1/2 block of Apple Tree Farms pork belly (about 800g)
2-3 green spring onions
3cm cube ginger sliced (skin on)
½ cup sake
Water
100ml soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
4 Woodland Free Range Eggs
For the Spicy Pickled Courgette salad
3 medium courgettes, ribboned
4 tbsp DYC spiced vinegar
1 tsp honey
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp Superb Herb garlic chives, chopped
1 tbsp Olivado Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Cooked Rice, to serve
1
Take pork belly out of the fridge and come to room temperature.
2
In a large pot, place pork, spring onions and ginger. Pour sake and water just enough to cover the pork. Put a lid on and place on a medium heat. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 1 hour until you can insert a skewer into pork easily.
3
When completely cool – put the whole pot in the fridge and chill for several hours or overnight. This makes the pork fat to set so it is easily removed.
4
Remove fat from the surface. Discard spring onions and ginger. Add sugar and soy sauce to the pot. Cut the meat into 4-5 cm cubes, then return to the pot. Place the pot back on medium heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add eggs when you have 6 minutes left, so they soft boil.
5
To make the spicy pickled courgette: Slice courgettes in long thin ribbons and place in a heat proof bowl. In a small saucepan, mix vinegar, honey, water and mustard and bring to boil. Pour over the courgettes and combine well. Add garlic chives and a drizzle of olive oil. Season to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
6
Peel boiled eggs and slice in halves. Serve Japanese Pork and Eggs accompanied by cool & spicy pickled courgettes salad and cooked rice.
