Braised pork (角煮) is a classic winter dish in Japan.
It's often served with boiled eggs, and go quite well with rice, or good quality of Sake.
I created a recipe before, but this is a better version.
So please have a try!!

[Serving] 4-5serves
[Prep time] 10 mins (Does not include time to soak Kombu)
[Cook time] 2.5 hours
[Storage] 3-4days in a fridge
[Difficulty] C *(A=Hard E=Easy)
[Ingredients] (GRAM)
-Pork belly (skin on) 1200g
-Onion 2
-Garlic 10g
-Ginger (skin on) 10g
-Egg 5-6
-Any type of vinegar some
(Cooking liquid)
-Water 800ml
-Kombu (dried kelp) 3g
-Sugar 1tbsp (15g)
-Sake 2tbsp (30ml)
-Mirin 2 tbsp (30ml)
-Soy sauce 5 tbsp (75ml)
*Might need to add more soy sauce when you do the tasting
[Ingredients] (OUNCE)
-Pork belly (skin on) 2.65lb
-Onion 2
-Garlic 0.35oz
-Ginger (skin on) 0.35oz
-Egg 5-6
-Any type of vinegar some
(Cooking liquid)
-Water 28.2oz
-Kombu (dried kelp) 0.1oz
-Sugar 1tbsp (0.5oz)
-Sake 2tbsp (1oz)
-Mirin 2 tbsp (1oz)
-Soy sauce 5 tbsp (2.6oz)
*Might need to add more soy sauce when you do the tasting
[Recipe video]
(Chapter)
0:00 prepare Ingredients
1:21 Sear Pork
3:38 Slow cook pork
5:23 Break time
5:25 Soft boiled egg
6:55 Marinade pork
8:02 Reheat and presentation
[Instruction]
[Chapter 1: prepare Ingredients]
Soak Water and kombu for 1hour to overnight.
Make holes on the pork skin.
Cut the pork into big chunks.
Roughly Chop onion.
Crush garlic. Cut ginger.
[Chapter 2: Sear Pork]
Add some Vege oil on a cold pan. Medium heat. Place the Pork.
Place a baking paper and heavy plate on it. Sear until brown.
Then sear all the other side with high heat.
Put them in a pot skin side down
Splash some water on the pan. Scrape the pan with high heat. Then pour the liquid in the pot
[Chapter 3: Slow cook pork]
Add everything into the pot (except soy sauce, vinegar and eggs)
Boil with a baking paper lid, then simmer for 30 mins.
Remove kombu. Add soy sauce. Lid on. Cook 2 hours on low heat.
(If you use pressure cooker, lid on now. Cook 1 hour)
[Chapter 4: Soft boiled egg]
Prepare Hot water. Add some Vinegar.
Drop eggs very gently (eggs should be cold).
Cook on medium heat for 7 mins.
Drop into ice water. Chill completely, then peel under running water.
[Chapter 5: Marinade pork]
Spike a knife into the pork. If it goes smoothly, the pork is cooked.
Gently move the pork into a different pot or container.
Strain the remaining liquid and vegetables into a sieve.
Combine the pork and the strained liquid.
Once it's cooled, add the egg. Marinade in a fridge overnight.
[Chapter 6: Reheat and presentation]
Discard the fat. Gently reheat with medium heat.
Once the liquid becomes runny, remove eggs.
Reheat the pork until hot, then serve.
[Extra instruction]
In traditional recipes, the pork is pre-boiled, and then cooked with fresh water and the seasonings.
The pre-boiling is for removing the pork smell and fat.
But it loses lot of flavour during the pre-boiling.
In this recipe, we take good time to sear the pork to remove fat and its smell instead of pre-boiling.
That way, we don't have to pre-boil the pork, and we don't lose any of the goodness.