Morimoto's essential ingredients for Japanese cooking
We're getting in the kitchen with New York chefs preparing international specialties, and this month Masaharu Morimoto shares a pork belly recipe he uses for three dishes at his new restaurant, Momosan Ramen & Sake. Chef Morimoto lived in Japan for 29 years, where he ran his own restaurant for five years. He's since opened a dozen restaurants around the world, including his flagship Morimoto in Philadelphia (with an outpost in New York City). Watch the video above for the celebrity chef's go-to ingredients in the kitchen. Plus, see an authentic recipe, cooking demonstration, sake and whisky pairings, and more Japanese restaurants for when you're not cooking in NYC.
Braised kakuni pork
by chef Masaharu Morimoto
Ingredients:
1/2 slab pork belly
1,700 grams water
1,420 grams sake
850 grams sugar
450 grams soy sauce
20 grams dark soy sauce
85 grams scallion oil
15 grams scallions cut into 2-inch sticks
10 grams ginger, skin on, sliced thinly
30 grams takatnosume (dried chili)
3 pieces Bay leaf
Method:
Steam pork belly block for 1 hour. Then cut into 40-gram slices and place neatly in deep hotel pan.
Braise in 350 degrees for 4 hours until tender.
Add a roasting rack over the portioned pork belly so the meat stays submerged while braising. Cool in the liquid and remove fat next day once it solidifies.
Can serve as tetsunabe kakuni (iron skillet), in steamed bao buns or on ramen.
Watch the complete cooking demo
See Japanese sake and whisky pairing picks
10 great Japanese restaurants in New York City