Braised Pork Belly Spice Curry with Katsuobushi, made with SN2

Pork and seafood dashi melt together into a rich, fragrant spiced sauce that makes your cheeks glow.

SPICE CURRY SPICE PACK (Spice Curry Spice Pack Symphony No.2 / SN2) makes this Braised Pork Belly Spice Curry with Katsuobushi.

SYMPHONY NUMBER 2 (SN2) is built on the idea of a symphony played with seafood, and the blend is tuned for spice curries made with fish and shellfish. That does not mean meat is off limits as the main ingredient. Cooking should always be free.

Still, since this is a recipe Inspice is proposing, we wanted some seafood essence in the plate. So we used katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) to lay down a seafood-based sauce, and let pork take a leading part on top of it. The piece that joins the seafood and the pork together is vinegar.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• SN2 / starter spices (the bag of whole spices): 1 bag
• SN2 / powder spices (the bag of ground spices): 1 bag
• Pork belly, in a block: 300g
• Onion: 1
• Nira (garlic chives): about 1 bunch (as much as you like)
• Tomato purée: 150–200g (about one shop-bought pack)
• Garlic (grated): 1 tbsp (1–2 cloves)
• Ginger (grated): 1 tbsp
• White sesame oil: 3 tbsp (any oil you like is fine)
• Kurozu (Japanese black rice vinegar): 1 tbsp (ordinary vinegar works instead)
• Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
• Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes): 1 pack (about 2–2.5g)
• Oyster sauce: 1 tsp (you can leave it out, but it adds depth)
• Black pepper: to taste
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Water: 300ml
  
  

Preparation

• Grate the garlic, then the ginger, in that order.
• Slice the onion.
• Chop the nira coarsely.
• Cut the block of pork belly into bite-sized pieces. Rub the kurozu: 1 tbsp, soy sauce: 1 tbsp and black pepper: to taste into the cut pork.

Method

1. Put the white sesame oil: 3 tbsp in a pan over low heat, and once the oil has warmed, add the starter spices (the bag of whole spices).
   
   
2. When you hear the mustard seeds (the small black ones) start to pop, add the grated garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring them through the spices.
   
   
3. Add the onion, stir it thoroughly through the spices, then turn the heat to high and cook it properly for about 12 minutes until amber, splashing in water again and again as you go.
   
   

   If it looks like catching, splash in a little water and keep cooking patiently. In our experience, about 2 tbsp of water each time, roughly five times in all.

4. Add only the marinade the pork was sitting in first, and cook it well into the onion.
   
   

   This is the key point. Cooking the marinade alone first and driving off its moisture gives you a tighter, more focused sauce.

5. Turn the heat to medium, add the pork and cook it through with everything else.
   
   
6. Once the pork is cooked, add two thirds of the powder spices and cook them in thoroughly. (The rest of the powder is used later.)
   
   
7. Lower the heat to low, add the tomato purée: 150–200g, salt: 1 tsp, oyster sauce: 1 tsp and water: 300ml, stir them in, then switch to medium and bring it to a boil once.
   
   
8. Once it has come to the boil, add the katsuobushi: 1 pack (about 2–2.5g), the nira and all of the remaining powder spices, then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
   
   
9. When it has thickened, adjust the seasoning. For this recipe, adjusting with soy sauce pulls the flavours together. If you feel it wants more roundness, try adding 1 tsp of sugar.
   That is it.
   
   

Finish with whatever toppings you like.

Inspice spice curry spice sets contain none of the chilli, cayenne or red pepper that usually carries the heat, so add as much as you like to suit your taste.