Simple Kombu Braised Pork Belly
The elevator pitch: This recipe is easily top-9 free! On top of that, most of the cooking is completely hands-off. What I love best about braising meats is that you can stick it in the oven, take your kid to soccer practice and then come home to meat that’s delicious and ready to eat.
I love braising meats! Most of my braised meat recipes (like Soy Braised Pork Ribs and top-9-free Hominy Braised Chicken) involve only 5-minutes of active time as you build a base and then drop in raw meats.
This one is a bit different, and let me tell you why. Because this dish is so simple with so few ingredients, a lot of the flavor comes from searing the meat beforehand. What happens when you sear the meat is that the bottom of your pan is covered in beautiful fond, the brown bits that stick to the pan as you cook. Fond is full of flavor, and we use that flavor to build our base. So make sure you leave time for this step (about 20-30 minutes) as you cook because it’s essential for building flavor.
Fond.
Gear. I use a 6.5-qt Dutch oven for this recipe with these proportions. This recipe would also work with an Instant Pot since it allows you to both sear and braise.
If you’re going to use a slow cooker or Crock Pot, 1) I would first figure out what setting is 280 degrees F (300 would also work), or if that’s even possible. 2) I would start the searing in a regular pan (don’t use non-stick because then you won’t get the beautiful fond you need). Then add your liquids, and once all of that is combined, then transfer the cooking liquid into your slow cooker or Crock Pot and then add your meats and continue braising from there.
Where to buy pork belly. I buy my pork belly at Costco! I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods.
4.5 lbs of pork belly from Costco.
What is kombu? In this recipe, I use an ingredient called kombu, which is a type of dried seaweed specifically for cooking in soups, especially in Japanese cuisine. It works similarly to a bay leaf in western cooking in that it imparts subtle but amazing flavor as it slowly cooks. All kombu I have ever found contains only seaweed, but please check ingredients and check for cross-contact if that’s something you normally do. Here is an Amazon affilliate link to the kombu I usually use. You can also find kombu in the “Asian” or “interntional” aisle of Whole Foods and most health food stores.
Deglazed pan with kombu, garlic and ginger
Plan. It’s super important to leave enough time for all of these steps. With searing and braising, you’ll want to leave 3 hours and 30 minutes of cooking time before dinner. (Remember that only the first 30 minutes is hands-on, and the oven is doing the work for you for the remaining 3 hours.) If you skimp on the 3 hours of braising, the fat may not render enough and it might be a bit chewy.
Simple Kombu Braised Pork Belly
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
4-4.5 lbs boneless pork belly, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 3-inch pieces
1/4 cup sake or white wine (broth or water is a fine substitute here)
1 small knob of ginger, about half a centimeter
8 cloves of garlic
2 sheets of kombu, each sheet is about 3”x3”
2 TBS tamari (for wheat-free) or soy sauce (if not using, increase amount of salt)
1 tsp kosher salt
Water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 280 degrees. Heat Dutch oven on medium heat. When Dutch oven is hot, add pork belly pieces, making sure not to crowd them. (This might mean you have to sear the pork belly in batches.) Brown on every side. If you don’t have time, browning on two sides is also sufficient. You should be getting fond (brown bits stuck to the Dutch oven) as you cook. Set aside pork belly on a plate.
When all pork belly has been browned, dump excess fat in the Dutch oven into a bowl. Set aside fat and use in another recipe or dispose of responsibly.
With the heat still on, add your deglazing liquid: 1/4 cup of sake, white wine, water or both and with a wooden spoon, quickly scrape up the brown bits. If using alcohol, allow the alcohol to evaporate, 1 minute.
Add next five ingredients: ginger, garlic, kombu, tamari/soy sauce (if using) and salt. Then, add browned pork belly pieces in a single layer, if possible, including any liquids that have accumulated on the plate. Crowding pork belly pieces is okay in this step.
Add water until pork belly pieces are nearly submerged (complete submersion isn’t necessary since pork belly will get smaller as it cooks and will eventually be submerged enough). Bring to a boil.
Cover and place Dutch oven on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Braise for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, remove Dutch oven from oven and place pork belly pieces onto a carving board. Beware that there may be liquids. Allow pork belly to cool for a few minutes. Using tongs in one hand and a sharp knife in the other, slice pork belly into pieces, about 1/2 centimeter thick.
If placing in a serving bowl, add some cooking liquid to keep pieces moist. Sprinkle salt to taste. Serve with rice and vegetables.
Optional toppings: Kewpie mayo (contains egg), shichimi togarashi (mildly spicy and fully flavorful Japanese chili powder).
See below for some more photos.
Pork belly, excess fat removed and cut into 3-4” pieces.
I’m the worst and I forgot to take a photo of the finished product! But here is the pork belly, sliced with some of the cooking liquid after dinner was over! Serving in the Dutch oven kept the food nice and warm throughout the meal.
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Did you try this recipe? Have a question? Leave a comment! Thanks so much!
