Pork Belly

Part One

1. Cut skin off pork belly and slice pork into 2” cubes.

2. Combine pork belly, 2” piece of ginger sliced into rounds, 6 cloves garlic - halved, 8-10 fresh sprigs of thyme, 2 green onions - chopped, 3 tsp kosher salt in deep sauce pot and cover with beef stock.

3. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Drain and separate pork pieces and discard the rest.

5. Pat pork pieces dry - moisture causes bad sear.

Part Two

1. Heat 1-2 tbsp of avocado oil over medium/high heat.

2. Add pork belly pieces and cook on all sides until brown. (Pork fat pops a bit so be careful of the splatter!)

3. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tbsp honey.

4. Turn heat to low and cook until is caramelizes and thickens. Stirring regularly.

5. Once it has thickened, make sure every piece is coated.

6. In a separate bowl, combine 3/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 3 garlic cloves - minced, and 1 tbsp ginger - grated.

7. Add this mixture to pot once brown sugar and honey have caramelized.

8. Stir consistently for 3-4 minutes. 

9. Add one cups of beef stock or water. (Add more if necessary.)

10. Bring to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes.

11. Uncover, increase heat to medium and let liquid reduce to a glaze - about 10 minutes.

12. Remove pork belly pieces. Save extra glaze for serving, if desired.

Pickled Ginger and Radish

1. Combine white sugar, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, water, kosher salt, jalapeno, crushed red pepper, bay leaf, juniper berries, black peppercorn, and thyme in medium saucepan and bring to a boil. (Everything except the ginger and radishes.)

2. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes.

4. Peel ginger and cut into matchsticks.

5. Soak ginger matchsticks in a bowl of water for 20-30 minutes then strain.

6. Cut radishes into matchsticks.

7. Place ginger (after soaking in water) and radishes into mason jar.

8. Strain hot pickling liquid into mason jar until full.

9. Seal jar and refrigerate. Preferably at least overnight but you can use them after a few hours if necessary.

Wasabi Mayo

1. Combine 1/4 cup kewpie mayo, 2 tbsp wasabi sauce, 1 clove garlic - minced, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, and a couple squeezes of fresh lemon juice and stir well.

2. I scooped mine into a ziplock bag and cut off the end so i could use that to squeeze the mayo onto each piece of pork belly.

Assemble

1. Use peeler or mandoline to cut long thin strips of english cucumber.

2. Fold the cucumber back and forth over itself and insert skewers through.

3. Add small amount of wasabi mayo to top of piece of pork belly and insert skewer with cucumber over top.

4. Add more wasabi mayo on top of cucumber by the skewer.

5. Add some pieces of pickled radish and ginger.

6. Top off with toasted sesame seeds, chopped scallions, and extra glaze if desired.