This is a Japanese braised pork belly dish known as “Kakuni.” The tender pork and mix of sweet and savory easily makes it one of my favorite dishes, and I normally don’t even like pork! We usually serve the braised pork belly over a bed of rice with a side of sautéed greens and pair it with a soft-boiled egg (or sometimes a fried egg if I’m extra lazy). I made it with sautéed spinach in the picture below, but have done it with sautéed kale or onions too. Basically, I’ll use whatever veggies I have on hand!

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I N G R E D I E N T S

3 green onions (we’ll use only the green parts)
1 inch ginger
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 lb. pork belly
1 cup water for cooking pork belly
4 boiled eggs

¼ cup sake
½ cup water
½ cup mirin
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sugar

D I R E C T I O N S

1. We’ll only be using the green part of the green onion, so cut out the white part, then cut the green parts in half. Peel the ginger and slice it thinly.
2. Turn on the electric pressure cooker, and hit the saute function. Once it reads “Hot,” add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Brown the pork belly.
3. Pour in a cup of water. Add the green onions and ginger.
4. Cover and lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Press the manual button and have it set to 35 minutes on high pressure.
5. Once it’s done, the pressure cooker will switch to “keep warm.” Do a quick release by releasing the pressure cooker valve.
6. Open the pressure cooker, and drain the water and get rid of the ginger and green onion pieces.
7. Put the pork belly back into the pressure cooker, along with the sake, water, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.
8. Leave the lid off, and press the saute button to have the sauce reduce and thicken in the pot. This will create a nice glaze over the pork belly and intensify the flavors.
9. While the sauce is reducing, you can boil or fry an egg, and saute the greens.
10. Once everything is done, go ahead and assemble your bowl. A scoop of rice, topped with pork belly, paired with a side of greens and egg. Done!