When I was in college, I went to izakayas all the time with my friends. These are bars that serve lots of small plates, more homey than fancy. Along with grilled mackerel and fresh tofu, pork belly has always been a staple of my izakaya visits. 

When I moved to Minnesota, I missed pork belly like this—hearty with a teriyaki-like flavor, great with a beer. Being 1996, I couldn't just Google and find a dozen different recipes for it. So I called my mom back in Osaka, and she faxed me this recipe. Decades later, cooking this pork belly still makes me feel connected to home, which has been all the more meaningful with the pandemic keeping us away.  

Serve the pork as a snack with other small dishes, or as a main course diced and tossed with the sauce over rice, sprinkled with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. The pork has to sit overnight in the cooking liquid, so plan ahead.

If you are a gadget person, the Japanese use a special lid, called an otoshi buta, to keep their ingredients submerged in liquid while cooking, as on day two of this recipe. But any smaller lid or aluminum foil will do.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pork Belly

Serves 4 as a snack

1½ to 2 pound block of pork belly, rinsed with water

1 scallion, the dark green part cut in 1 inch pieces and the white and light green part thinly sliced lengthwise

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon canola oil

¾ cup sake, separated

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup sugar

Spicy Chinese or Dijon mustard, for serving

1. Heat 5 cups water in a medium pot. When the water boils, add the pork belly. (If the pork is not submerged, add more water.) Once the water starts bubbling again, turn off the pan and remove the pork. While the pork cools, empty and wipe out the pan. Cut the pork into 2-inch pieces.

2. In a pan big enough to hold all the pork pieces in a single layer, heat oil on medium-high and cook the pork, turning, until it's slightly brown on all sides.

3. Add ¼ cup sake and enough water to cover the meat by 2 inches. Add the dark green scallion pieces and ginger. Cook on medium heat until the liquid starts to bubble, then turn the heat to a very low simmer and cook for 2 hours. Add water if necessary so the pork stays submerged.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the meat cool in the liquid, then cover and place the pan in the fridge overnight.

5. Gently skim the fat from the surface, remove the pork, then pour the cooking liquid into a bowl and set aside. Rinse the pork with water.

6. Put the pork back in the pan, skin side down. Add the soy sauce, sugar, and remaining ½ cup sake and add enough reserved cooking liquid to submerge the meat.

7. Using an otoshi buta, smaller lid, or aluminum foil, cover the pork directly so that it stays submerged and the meat does not move around. Cook on medium heat until the liquid starts to boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

8. Remove the pork to a plate and keep it warm by tenting it with foil. Turn the heat to medium to reduce the sauce by half, then pour over the pork. Sprinkle the white and light green scallions pieces on top and serve with mustard on the side.