A classic, melt-in-your-mouth braised pork belly, Buta no Kakuni, made easier and faster with the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker)!
You asked and you shall receive! After making this and posting on Instagram stories, there were tons of recipe requests for this dish – so here you go!
Braised Pork Belly is a dish that is found across many different cuisines. It seems every culture has their own version, which I find super fun. In Japan, the most popular version is Buta no Kakuni (豚の角煮). Typically the pork is cooked for hours and you end up with insanely soft meat in a sweet and savory sauce. It’s Japanese comfort food at its best.
Usually, it takes a long time to make on the stove since you want the meat to become very tender. With the Instant Pot (or any pressure cooker), however, you can make this dish faster than ever! I’m fairly new to the Instant Pot game but this is one of my favorite recipes to make in there. I previously didn’t make kakuni often due to how long it took to make AND it makes it softer than I could get it on the stovetop (since I’m too impatient).
This will be using my Instant Pot instructions but if you have a different brand or type, please use the instructions according to your appliance.
If you are looking for some of the Japanese ingredients or for an Instant Pot, check out MY PANTRY and MY TOOLS or the “Shop this post” section below. It has all my favorites/most used ingredients and items!
Instant Pot Buta no Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly) / 豚の角煮
Equipment
- Instant Pot (or pressure cooker)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork belly cut into 2" x 2" cubes
- 4 green onions green parts only
- 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp oil
- water for cooking the pork belly
- 4 soft or hard boiled eggs
Sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Prep ingredients: Cut pork belly into 2" x 2" cubes (or as close to that as you can get depending on the type of pork belly you have). Cut off the white portion of the green onions and halve the green portions again.
- Press the "Sauté" function on your Instant Pot and set to high (or "More"). Heat the oil and sear the pork belly a little bit to render some of the fat from the pork belly.
- Once some fat has rendered out, pour enough water into the pot to cover the pork belly. Add in sliced ginger and green onions.
- Cover and lock the lid. Press the "Cancel" button to stop the sauté. Press "Manual" to use the pressure cooker function. Set cook time to 40 minutes.
- When it is finished, carefully push the steam release handle to the venting position to let out the steam until the float valve drops (you can also let the pressure release naturally). Once depressurized, remove the lid (be careful of the steam coming out!). Pour contents into a strainer/colander to drain the water. Discard the green onion and ginger. Rinse the pork belly under warm water.
- Put the pork belly back into the Instant Pot and add the sauce ingredients. Press the "Sauté" function and set it to "More." Mix the ingredients well, bring to a simmer for a minute (just enough to burn off the alcohol). Press "Cancel" to stop the sauté. Cover and lock the lid. Press "Manual" and set the cooking time for 25 minutes (do less if your pork pieces are smaller or thinner – like 10-15 minutes).
- When it's finished cooking, carefully push the steam release handle to the venting position to let out the steam until the float valve drops (you can also let the pressure release naturally). Once depressurized, remove the lid carefully.
- Press the "Sauté" and put it on "Less" (or low) to bring to a low simmer. Add in your soft or hardboiled eggs. Simmer until sauce is reduced slightly (couple of minutes).
- Serve! It's great with steamed rice. 🙂
Notes
Shop this post:
Oroshi Shoga (Grated Ginger) / おろし生姜
Instant Pot
Soy Sauce / 醬油
Mirin / みりん
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