Miso Marinated Pork Belly

Just a delicious way to prepare pork belly.  The marinade gives this otherwise bland meat a salty, sweet, and savory/umami flavor.


Sliced pork belly is almost non-existent in american groceries (bacon doesn't count), but it is practically its own food group in korea and is common throughout asia.  To find it here in america, just head over to any korean supermarket and it will almost be guaranteed that there will be some in the meat section.

Koreans prepare pork belly by quickly cooking it with salt and pepper, then adding a dab of korean pepper paste on top and eating it with rice or in a lettuce wrap.  I've been eating it this way for 20 years and didn't know there were other ways to eat it.

I once again underestimated japanese cuisine and made this with little expectation and was once again blown away by how delicious the end result was.

note: - I used to marinate this but now just apply the paste then immediately cook it afterwards and it tastes amazing.  There is no need to marinate it and you just risk over-marinating (which I did once) by letting the paste sit on the pork belly for too long.


ingredients:
enough for 6 strips of pork belly

1.  2 TBL miso paste
2.  1 TBL sake
3.  1 TBL mirin
4.  1/2 tsp sugar

4.  6 strips of pork belly

recipe:
1.  Measure all ingredients with measuring spoons and add to a small bowl.  Mix well with a small spoon until homogeneous.
2.  Use small spoon to apply marinade evenly over both sides of pork belly.
3.  Heat up a skillet with a few drops of oil over medium high heat.  After pan gets very hot, add pork belly and quickly saute both sides, just until the pinkness has been cooked out, 1-2 minutes per side.
4.  Serve it as whole strips or cut it into bite sized pieces.
5.  Serve with white rice.