This savory soy-sauce braised pork belly is a quick and easy Korean dish that comes together under 20 minutes. Tender pork belly simmers and caramelizes for an easy weeknight meal that pairs perfectly with rice as a simple banchan.
We bought a huge pack of pork belly last weekend from Costco that’s about 6 lbs so I’ve been exploring recipes to use it up for our family of three. This super simple dish is from Culinary Class Wars chef Lim Sung Geun, shared on his YouTube channel. He calls it jangttokttoki, a name I hadn’t heard before. It’s inspired by jangjorim, a traditional soy-braised beef side dish that typically simmers for hours, but this is a much quicker version made with pork belly. The name comes from the ttok ttok sound the knife makes as you chop the meat on the cutting board.
This recipe was very good. Many of the celebrity recipes are often too sweet or too salty where I often just the seasoning a bit but this one, I used just as written. It’s not overly sweet or salty, making it a great option for both kids and adults. While the ingredient list may look long, there’s no need to pre-mix anything—you simply add everything straight into the pan, making this dish especially easy and approachable.
My daughter loves it when I bring her a lunchbox when picking her up to go to afterschool activities, so I packed this simple rice and pork belly combo for her. She loved it and gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up.
Hope you enjoy!
Quick Soy Sauce Braised Pork Belly (Jang TtokTtoki)
Ingredients
- 450 g pork belly (1 lb)
- 20 ml mirin (1 ⅓ Tbsp)
- Pinch of black pepper
- 50 ml water (3 ⅓ Tbsp)
- 10 g brown sugar (¾ Tbsp)
- 20 ml soy sauce (1 ⅓ Tbsp)
- 20 g honey or rice syrup (1 Tbsp)
- 10 g minced garlic (⅔ Tbsp)
- 20 g chopped scallions (2-3 Tbsp)
- 10 ml fish sauce (⅔ Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- Optional: 1-2 spicy peppers sliced (I skipped for my kid)
Instructions
- Cut the pork belly into 1-inch strips
- Place the pork belly on a large pan. Turn the heat up to medium.Place the pork belly in a large pan and set over medium heat. Add the mirin and a pinch of black pepper, tossing to coat. This helps remove any pork odor.
- Pan-fry the pork belly until most of the pinkness is gone and the fat begins to render.Pour in the water and sprinkle in the brown sugar. Toss well until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the soy sauce and honey (or rice syrup), mixing to coat the pork evenly. Stir in the minced garlic and scallions, then continue to pan-fry until the sauce starts to reduce.
- Add the fish sauce and optional spicy peppers, tossing to combine.
- Drizzle in the sesame oil and continue cooking until the liquid has reduced and the pork belly is glossy and lightly caramelized on the outside. Enjoy as a side dish with a bowl of rice!
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