I’m not sure if the following recipe appears in Morimoto’s cookbook or not, but a couple months ago, when I tasted the delicious pork belly sliders at the pre-opening festivities at Morimoto Napa, I decided that I really needed to learn to more about the Iron Chef’s approach to swine. Fortunately, I have a friend and former chef-school roommate who has cooked at one of Morimoto’s East Coast restaurants, so he’s actually executed this pork belly recipe dozens of times, if not hundreds. As I found out, the recipe itself doesn’t really contain any guarded secrets or esoteric ingredients; instead, it simply relies upon patience and technique, which is often enough. To that end, Morimoto’s pork belly recipe sees 10 hours of total braising time, spread out over two days. If you wish to discuss slow food, then this is definitely it.
Three pounds of heritage pork belly: Beauty is more than skin deep.
For the 10-hour pork belly, Morimoto uses Kurobuta pork, also known as Berkshire pork here in the United States. As one might guess from its name, Berkshire pork originated in Great Britain, where the breed boasts a 300-year lineage. In more recent times, the Berkshire pig has become part of the UK’s Rare Breed Survival Trust, which aims to fight the extinction of heritage livestock (similar to Slow Food’s Ark of Taste). Although it may seem counter-intuitive to slaughter and eat a vanishing breed, this practice actually helps to support and sustain the Berkshire pig farmers, who will thus ensure that the Berkshire lineage continues. Of course, heritage meats do cost more than factory-farmed meats, but the difference in quality is unmistakable.
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Welcome to your new home.
The first step in preparing Morimoto’s 10-hour pork belly is to render the fat side (skin removed). This initial step is best accomplished by starting with a cold pan and searing the belly slowly over very low heat. I actually rendered the pork belly for one full hour, turning the heat up to medium for the last five minutes in order to achieve a beautiful golden brown color (as seen in the photo below). Note that the meaty side of the belly is to remain raw for the time being.
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So crisp, you could strike a match on it.
After rendering, the fat side of the belly becomes quite crispy, reminiscent of chicharones. In the photo above, you may notice that I rendered out almost one full cup of fat, which I drained before returning the belly to the pan. Once drained, I covered the pork belly with three quarts of cold water, which also included one-half cup of brown rice (the rice serves to collect some of the impurities in the pork belly, allowing for a much “cleaner” flavor at the end). I brought the braising water to a gentle simmer, then I turned the heat all the way down, allowing the belly to simmer for six hours. During this process, it’s imperative that the water simmers as gently as possible; a rolling boil, especially in the latter stages, would shred the pork belly. Also, I found that the pork belly was best simmered fat-side down, since that’s the way it tends to curl during cooking.
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After six hours, and a night in the fridge. Four more hours remaining.
After six hours of low simmering, I carefully removed the pork belly, which was barely holding together by that point. Since the belly was somewhat buoyant in its braising liquid, I used a dinner plate to scoop it from the water. From there, I carefully slid the belly onto a sheet pan, then used a rubber spatula to gently scrape away any of the brown rice (on a related note, brown rice is used because it’s the least likely to dissolve during the six-hour braise). Once the belly was cleaned and manicured, I sandwiched it between another sheet pan, and pressed it flat with a couple 24-ounce cans. I refrigerated this set-up overnight, then removed it the next day and portioned the pork belly into squares, as seen above.
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10 hours completed.
Up until this point, the pork belly has not been seasoned in any way. The seasoning occurs in that last four hours of braising, when the liquid consists of (a) four parts water, (b) three parts sake, (c) two parts sugar, and (d) one part soy sauce. This 4-3-2-1 ratio is often seen in Japanese cooking, and can also be used in other applications. The key, however, is that the first two hours of the braise do not involve the soy sauce component. The reasoning is, the salt in the soy sauce would inhibit the pork belly’s ability to absorb the sugar. Therefore, I combined one quart of water with three cups of sake and two cups of sugar, bringing the liquid to a boil just long enough to dissolve the sugar. I then poured this hot liquid over the pork belly, and I placed the covered pot into a 275-degree oven. After two hours in the oven, I then added one cup of soy sauce, and allowed the belly to braise for two more hours.
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Belly jelly: Don't fear gluttony, embrace it.
After the four-hour braise was complete, I carefully removed the pieces of belly and placed them in a single layer to cool (I found that a 9-by-13 baking dish worked well). I then strained the braising liquid and reduced it on the stove top by about half. I chilled this liquid, then poured it back over the belly, which I had also refrigerated. The photo above depicts the little nuggets of fat that I had initially strained from the braising liquid. I scraped these remnants from the strainer and (with very little hesitation) ate them. The melted fat was essentially pork belly marmalade, slightly sweet, but with a savory element from the soy sauce. Had there been enough to spread on breakfast toast, I would’ve done so.
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Like butter.
Once refrigerated, the pork belly is pretty much ready to eat. To serve, just heat the pieces in a saute pan with a little of the braising liquid. As the belly warms, the liquid reduces to form a glaze, which can be spooned over the pork. I recommend eating this pork belly over rice, or perhaps on its own. In the photo above, I placed two pieces of belly on a toasted Kings Hawaiian bun, dressed with a little kewpie mayonnaise and some Asian coleslaw. The pork featured the tender consistency of room-temperature butter, and it was incredibly flavorful to boot. On the tenderness scale, if foie gras was a 10, then this belly would be about a nine.
WOW – can’t wait to make this! Thanks for the effort (pix and recipe).
This is a great entry! Obvious that it took lots of time, and the pictures put it over the top. Well done!
it looks really good. the photos make me drool a lil bit
sending a vote your way
check out my entry if you are interested!:
http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/829
this is so scrumptious looking! You have my vote for sure!
Great tutorial. Also, love the blog. Very splashy, quite different from most.
Wow, that looks quite gluttonous, in a good way of course
You had me at pork belly. And then again at belly jelly. You have my vote. Nice job.
Pork Belly….say no more, you got my vote.
this is fabulous, your pork belly is drool worthy. great post! you’ve got my vote!
Leila
MyBarbarianTable
My mouth was watering throughout this entire entry. My mind can only conjure up the thought, “yum!”. Great post, you got my vote. Good luck!
Voted! this dish sounds and looks fantastic. wait, i think my mouth just watered! ha!
well done!
Your post is absolutely drool-worthy! Makes me want to rush home and make this right away, so you definitely get a vote.
And if you like, stop by and take a look at my entry too
http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/834
Wow…now that is a challenge, great entry
I’m pretty amazed at all the work that goes into cooking a good piece of pork belly. This is just an insanely informative post, and I really appreciate that. Just wow.
This is food porn at its finest! I love pork belly and Morimoto! You got my vote, good luck!
This is incredible – great entry! Definitely voting for this -
Wow, this looks amazing, definitely adding it to my must try list. You’ve got my vote.
And… I narrowly avoided drooling on my desk. Great to hear that you’re checking out Berkeley. One of my guest posters lives there, I’ll be sure to tell him about your upcoming posts.
You’ve got my vote, best of luck in the competition!
Lick My Spoon
Excellent post – my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I’m definitely going to try this technique.
Mmmmm, I recently had pork belly for the first time, plated with picked vegetables and sweet corn ice cream. It was deeeeeelicious! I agree–embrace the fat!
This makes my mouth water.I am voting partly for you, but partly for this pork belly which looks delectable!!
Great post. That belly looks delicious! You have my vote.
Kelly
Sounding My Barbaric Gulp!
http://www.barbaricgulp.com/2010/09/project-food-blog-classics-challenge-2.html
I’m floored by this response, everybody! Thanks so much for the encouraging words! I look forward to perusing all of your respective blogs in the next couple days…
This sounds absolutely amazing. I can’t even gather the words to describe how good this sounds. Thank you for sharing! I just voted for you – good luck!
Just voted for this. This looks amazing. If I make this at home my husband might just propose again!
Hell, I’m a vegetarian and I loved this post! Funny captions and great step-by-step detail. Got my vote.
Same. to be honest, I usually vote for my friends, or to whoever pops a message in my foodbuzz inbox and twitter, but this is an exception. I actually voted for this because i love the effort that went with it and the outcome is really something that looks delicious! congrats on making it to round 2 and here’s hoping we all move on to the next. all the best!
Wow, ten hours! I’m guessing that belly tasted amazing. Nice work, you’ve earned my vote. Check out my post for round 2: http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/956
Great post! Looks sinfully delicious. I voted for you!
Good luck! =)
You can check out my PFB post at :http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/864
yum…and beautiful photos. i’m going to morimoto’s next week for the first time. i think i’ll order something else since i’ll be making this recipe soon. thanks!
Wow, that looks divine. Morimoto Napa is on my list to visit soon, but I may have to try this first at home! You got my vote.
Is this a traditional Japanese preparations? I love slow cooked meat. Good luck with round 2!
I assume it’s fairly traditional, at least in the sense that it incorporates a lot of time-tested techniques and ratios.
Wow, pork belly jelly! Now that’s different! Great post. You got my vote. Good luck moving forward.
How could I not vote for you? You featured pork and in such a great way. Your picture of the finished product drew me to your sight and I read every word–thanks for the education on the meat you used and about this process of braising. I bookmarked it for reference. Good luck!
Salivating… You’ve got my vote!
What a cute blog! Can I say that with out you rolling your eyes? LOL and this post is definitely drool worthy. You have my vote!
I just voted for you because pork is KING! That recipe is awesome, I am so trying it.
This. Is. Amazing.
You and I took a long time to make our meat dishes. I loved this post and I wish you the best. My vote is on its way.
Norma
Platanos, Mangoes and Me!
Omg! I made pork belly for this challenge too – yours looks delicious. Wish we could have a pork belly party… yum! Just voted for you.
Well done… I did a pork belly myself for my challenge, but it was mostly used to season teh stock that seasoned the noodles… very counterintuitive to what I know. But that’s the point
I did vote for you, seems you really took the contest serious, and did yourself proud
I heart pork belly! I like how you say about belly jelly -embrace it! haha yes it’s so true and it tastes good. This looks divine therefore you got my vote!
This dish sounds amazing. I like your blog and your voice and use of heritage pig!!! You got my vote.
Lexi Van de Walle
Lighthearted Locavore
Check out my post on Long Island Pekin Duck and vote for me too! http://tinyurl.com/25cs3ql
I know I’m a Nutritionist, and probably not supposed to want things like this, but I do!
You’ve got my vote!
The time, effort, dedication and sheer BEAUTY of this dish has me a) drooling and b) wishing I could vote more than once for you! Amazing job. It’s totally gorgeous!
Morimoto would be proud
Jax x
Oh, man. That’s droolworthy. I’ve never met a porkbelly I didn’t love. You got our vote!
(Ours is at: http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/957 )
Anything with pork belly has my vote! It’s a true weakness of mine! Hope we both make it to round three!
You had my vote at pork belly.
Very nice post. I’ve made pork belly many times and never this way. I love the idea of rendering the fat first. I’ll have to try this one.
I am blown away. I’ve never attempted a recipe this intensive, but you’ve made me want to try it, and I just might.
What’s the purpose of the final refrigeration stage, other than not eating the entire pork belly at once?
Thanks for your comment! The final refrigeration is simply for long term storage, as you had guessed.
Wow – you have a lot of patience!! 10 hours is a long time to wait for a delicious looking treat! Great job in round 2!
Tim this looks amazing, I don’t know if I could handle waiting around for something like this. So I leave my pork belly ingesting for the guys at Animal. Good luck with Project Food Blog! I’ll be voting!
-matt
So glad to see you made it to Round 3! My boyfriend and I have been talking about how mouthwatering your pork belly looks for days!!
Good luck…. You’ve got my vote!
Cheers,
Laurel
Looks and sounds divine! I am sure you make Morimoto proud! I have had his pork belly upclose and personal but will have to definitely try this recipe out to enjoy! =D Good luck on the competition!
Sounds luscious! Sorry I missed the voting – shall keep an eye out for your posts in future rounds!
Just FYI- My family and I went to Grace’s Table (on 2nd Street in Napa) for dinner this past week and they had a pork belly appetizer that was every bit as good as the same dish at Morimoto. I asked the Grace’s waitress if the chef was trying his own hand at Morimoto’s recipe but she wasn’t sure. As far as I could tell, both bellies are at the same level of excellence…except the belly @ Grace’s is much cheaper! Give it a try…I think it’s a dinner-only item.
WOW! I am definitely going to make this pork belly for my husband! We’ve eaten at Morimoto Napa and Hawaii and LOVE his pork belly. Thank you for the recipe