You might have noticed Okinawans love pork. Pork is in Okinawan noodles, fried rice and even in vegetables – it’s everywhere! This week, I introduce one of my favourite pork dishes. My mother used to cook this dish when I was a child and I loved it. Also my little one-year-old twins love to have a taste. They don’t stop asking for more! This dish is good with rice and vegetable dishes. I made this recipe very easy and simple to cook so you can cook at home even if you are not familiar with cooking Japanese food. So please try.

Ingredients

(Serves 2 people)

• 600g block of pork belly

• 100ml or ½ cup sake

• Thumb-size piece of ginger, sliced

• 1 leek – only chop and use the dark green part *preferably Japanese leek

• Water 800ml or 4 cups

• 100ml or ½ cup soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons sugar *you can also use an Okinawa speciality, brown sugar.

• Use Japanese or Chinese style mustard to serve

Directions

1. Place the pork in a pot as it is and also put all the water, sake, leek and ginger on top of the pork.

2. Bring it to a boil and once it’s boiled, reduce the heat to simmer then remove the broth.

3. Put the lid on and simmer for about one hour. If you can, simmer longer as it will make it more tender.

4. Remove the ginger and leek. Take the pork out from the pot and cut it into 6 or 8 pieces, depending on the shape of the block.

5. Place the pork back into the pot and add half of the soy sauce and simmer for 20 minutes. When the liquid is running low, keep adding water to cover the meat.

6. Add the rest of the soy sauce and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

7. It’s ready to serve. Place mustard on the top and you can also slice the leek and use it as garnish.

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