Smoked Pork Belly Okonomiyaki (Adding smoky flavor without a smoker) | Pro Home Cooks

-click for menu-

Things are getting extra crazy in the BG kitchen as we rock the pork belly so hard you won't even know what to do with yourself. Josh figured out a great way, without using liquid smoke, or a smoker, to get a succulent mouthgasmic smokey pork belly and he has fun with the possibilities of Okonomiyaki while Mike stands by wishing he was the cooler brother. Also, the best soft boiled egg you'll ever eat.

Okonomiyaki Ramen

Japanese food and barbecue are two things that should go together more often! So we’ve concocted an open-faced ‘smoked’ pork sandwich on a ramen pancake. You don’t need a smoker to make it—we’ve got a funky trick for simulating the flavor of smoked meat.

Pork Belly:
Pork belly, skin off (get from your local butcher, you’ll need a size around 7” x14”)
1 white onion, sliced thin and burnt to a crisp (put slices on sheet tray, 350 until black)
3 tablespoons smoked salt
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground pepper
Oil
1 cup sake
½ cup soy sauce
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
½ cup bonito flakes
3” piece fresh ginger, sliced
6 garlic cloves
6 scallions (green onions)

Okonomiyaki:
1 egg
¼ cup dashi broth (water that has had kombu, or seaweed sheets, and bonito flakes boiled in it) or water
½ cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
2 scallions, chopped
½ green cabbage, thinly sliced
4 pieces bacon, cooked and chopped
Good-quality ramen noodles, cooked, drained and cooled

Okonomiyaki Sauce:
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
¼ tsp. ground ginger

Pickled Eggs:
2 eggs
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup water

Garnish:
1 carrot, thinly shaved
Mayonnaise
1 scallion, chopped

Directions:

Pork Belly:
Preheat oven to 275°.

Prick belly with a fork several times. Rub both sides with the charred onions, smoked salt, smoked paprika and pepper. Zip it with a little oil. Roll up very tightly and tie with cooking twine.

Add soy, sake, water, sugar, bonito flakes, ginger, garlic and scallions to large, oven-safe sauté pan. Cook on stove just until boiling; turn off heat.

Add belly to the oven-safe sauté pan and loosely cover in tinfoil. Bake for 3-4 hours, turning pork every 30 minutes. Allow to cool, remove twine, and cut into ½” round slices.

Okonomiyaki:
In a medium-sized bowl, mix egg, flour, salt, and dashi broth/water. Mix in scallions, cabbage and bacon. Add more dashi broth/water or flour if you need to loosen or thicken up the batter. Add drained ramen noodles.

Heat a griddle or a large sauté pan. Zip with oil and spoon out enough of the batter to make a pancake slightly larger than the slices of pork belly. Cook on both sides until brown and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel.

Okonomiyaki Sauce:
Mix all ingredients; transfer to empty zip bottle if you want.

Pickled Eggs:
Cook eggs in simmering water in medium saucepot for exactly 6 minutes. Drain eggs, run under cold water, and gently peel. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and water in small bowl. Add peeled eggs and let sit, completely submerged, for at least an hour.

Assembly:
Take the okonomiyaki patty, top with a slice of the pork belly, and zip with mayo and okonomiyaki sauce. Pile some carrot slices on top. Cut a pickled egg in half and gently place atop the carrots. Sprinkle the whole thing with scallion and dive in!