Pork Kakuni, or braised pork, is one of those Japanese dishes that are jaw-dropingly delicious, yet painfully difficult to produce because it takes so long to make. And various ingredients and water must be continuously added to get the pork to its soft, juicy state without burning it. But apparently there is a Japanese cookbook specifically designed to make these types of recipes painless. Their secret ingredient? Watching movies while you cook. Here is their recipe for watching Titanic while making pork kakuni.
Ingredients:
pork belly (about 1 lb)
water
shochu (1 cup)
A) mirin (1/4 cup), ginger (1 stick, unpeeled)
B) soy sauce (80 ml), mirin (80 ml)
Steps:
1. Cue the movie, Titanic
2. Put pork belly into pot, cover with water. Add A and begin heating. When water comes to a boil, turn to low flame and begin playing the movie. Cover pork with aluminum foil and let simmer.
3. Add water when Jack is frolicking and spitting. Add water again when Rose is dancing like crazy. Add water again when Jack is drawing nude Rose. When the boat begins to sink turn off the flame.
4. Remove pork and cut into 4 pieces. Keep 2 cups of broth.
5. Quickly rinse pot and add shochu. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 min. Add broth and B and resume film.
6. When it comes to a boil, add pork and cover. Turn over several times. The kakuni is done as the aristocrats are boarding the life boats.
April 28, 2014 at 1:19 pm
Is grouping ingredients with labels of A, B, etc. a common practice in Japanese recipes? I have a Japanese cuisine cookbook at home that does the same thing, but I don’t think I’ve seen it anywhere else. I wish more recipes would do it, though; it makes planning preparation more convenient.
April 28, 2014 at 4:56 pm
Jim – I see it all the time with Japanese cookbooks and recipes. I’ve never really thought about it, but I guess it might be a characteristically Japanese thing to do. And I agree – very helpful!