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Japanese braised pork belly
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Japanese Braised Pork Belly & Yaki Udon

Dive into the rich flavors of Asian cuisine with today's delicious duo of Japanese Braised Sticky Pork Belly and Yaki Udon
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: Pork Belly, Udon
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Angela Morris

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds pork belly slices
  • 4 cups beef or vegetable stock
  • 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped in half
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

For the Glaze

  • 1/4 cup cooking sake
  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce or dark soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and minced
  • 1 teaspoon red chili flakes

For the Yaki Udon

  • 1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup green cabbage roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot julienned
  • 4 white button mushrooms sliced
  • 1-2 green onions to garnish
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger chopped
  • 12 ounces fresh thick udon noodles
  • 1 tablespoon neutral-tasting oil

For the sauce

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Heat the stock, ginger, garlic, and brown sugar in a pot. Add the pork belly and simmer for 2 hours, covered.
  • Mix the glaze ingredients in a small bowl.
  • Add oil to a frying pan over high heat. When hot, add in the pork. Fry until the pork starts to turn golden. Be careful of hot grease splattering!
  • Pour the glaze over the pork and continue cooking until the sauce has thickened and the pork starts to look sticky. You don't want to cook until the liquid is gone, or it will burn.
  • Remove from the heat and set aside.

For the Yaki Udon

  • In a small container, mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, ketchup, and rice vinegar.
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once it starts to boil, add in the noodles. Cook for only 3 minutes for fresh noodles (or according to the package instructions for other types of noodles).
  • Drain the noodles and set aside. You can add about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil to keep the noodles from sticking together, if you're not quite ready to continue making the dish.
  • In a large wok or pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and ginger. Saute for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the onion, cabbage, carrot, and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
  • When the vegetables are cooked but still crunchy, add the drained noodles and sauce. Toss everything together for 2 to 3 minutes or until the noodles are nicely coated.
  • Garnish with green onions and serve with the pork belly.

Notes

  • Watch the pork belly as the sauce starts to thicken and turn dark and sticky. It can go from bubbly to burned in a matter of minutes.
  • The fresh udon noodles don't need much cooking time. If you cook them too long they can turn mushy.
  • The veggies for the yaki udon are cut on the big side and cooked just until they start to soften but still have some crunch to them.