This professional technique
Kurobuta pork, cherry-simmered, with kabocha, red Manganji pepper, and burdock
COOKING INGREDIENTS
This professional technique
FREE
Ingredients
- Quantities
Kurobuta pork
500 g
Kyo-zakura miso
120 g
Sugar
70 g
Mirin sake
50 ml
In red wine, water
to taste ※ pumpkin, red Manganji pepper, and burdock
How to make Kurobuta pork, cherry-simmered, with kabocha, red Manganji pepper, and burdock
How to make Kurobuta pork, cherry-simmered, with kabocha, red Manganji pepper, and burdock
Sear the block of meat skin-side down over high heat until nicely browned, then sear the other side as well.
Set a perforated tray over a catch tray, line it with cheesecloth, place the back fat on top, add refined white sugar at about 20 percent of the meat's weight, and sprinkle with sake.
Place an inner lid in the steamer so that water droplets don't get in, and steam for about 3 hours.
Let it cool naturally, then chill it once in the refrigerator to firm up the fat.
Cut the pork into appropriate-sized pieces, trim off the excess fat, season it with the broth and Kyōzakura miso, and simmer to let the flavor soak in.
Want to check the seasoning blend before you cook?
COMMENT
Kurobuta sakura-ni uses sugar-steaming as a cooking method to finish meat that tends to toughen into a tender, miso-simmered dish. Until now, in preparations such as kakuni, the meat was parboiled with soy pulp or rice bran to remove odors, but this caused the umami to leach out. With sugar-steaming, however, the meat becomes tender while a concentrated dashi can also be extracted, allowing the cooking to proceed without waste.
When simmering it through, adding red wine just enough for its aroma to remain gives it richness and a better flavor. The kabocha and red Manganji peppers served alongside are simmered in happō dashi, and the burdock is cut into thin rotary-peeled sheets, then finely julienned and deep-fried before being added as a garnish.