Use your instant pot to make this melt-in-your-mouth Pressure Cooker Pork Belly (Kakuni)! Enjoy the dish with a steaming bowl of rice, and it could well be your family’s favorite recipe.
I received many requests for more Instant Pot recipes after I shared my Slow Cooker Chicken Wings recipe. I love my Instant Pot. This electric cooker has both a pressure cooker and s slow cooker function.
Today I’m sharing one of my favorite and super delicious Instant Pot recipes, Pressure Cooker Pork Belly (Kakuni)! I really hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.
Watch How To Make Pressure Cooker Pork Belly プレッシャークッカーで作る角煮の作り方
Make delicious melt-in-your-mouth pressure cooker pork belly. The Japanese name for this dish is Kakuni (角煮) and it simply tastes amazing with rice.
If you’ve never had Japanese pork belly dish called Kakuni (角煮)… oh my gosh, where should I begin? It’s my favorite Japanese pork dish. The tender pork cooking for hours simply melt in your mouth and the sweet and savory sauce…ah, it’s hard not to drool thinking about it. Seriously.
Making Kakuni with a Pressure Cooker
Whether you’re already familiar with how to make Kakuni on the stove top or had never made it before, I highly recommend making Kakuni with a pressure cooker. Why? Because you can cook it FAST. Much, much, faster than on a stove top. This special dish that you used to prepare once in a while will soon become a weeknight repertoire. When you cook pork belly over the stove top, it takes a while (hours) to get the pork super tender and you need to constantly monitor the temperature and amount of liquid remaining in the pot. With a pressure cooker, these worries go away and the process is very simple.
Still hesitant about buying a pressure cooker because of the memories from your mom’s old fashioned pressure cooker? I definitely was. My mom has this stove top pressure cooker that makes everyone nervous when it makes a hissing, whistling, and rattling sound. I was used to hearing the sound, yet for the longest time (and still), I don’t feel safe using it by myself in my own kitchen.
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
However, having the Instant Pot changed me. This electric pressure cooker is very easy and user-friendly. Even though it is both a slow cooker and pressure cooker, I actually use the pressure cooker function more often than the slow cooker function. Why? It cuts down cooking time significantly, and it’s a perfect cooking gadget for busy cooks!
In case you’re interested, I put the recipe below for my regular Kakuni recipe you can make using the stove top.
I hope you enjoy my Kakuni recipe using a pressure cooker. I had never used other types/brands of pressure cooker so for instructions on how to use your device, please refer to the manual.
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- 3 green onions/scallions (use only the green parts)
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 2 lb pork belly block (907 g)
- Water (for cooking pork belly)
- 4 soft/hard boiled eggs (See Notes)
- Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (for taste, optional)
Gather all the ingredients. My pork belly (from the Korean market) was pre-sliced into ¼ inches. You can freeze the block for one hour and slice with a sharp knife (See this post).
- We will only use the green parts of the green onions (use the white parts in miso soup to go with this dish). Cut the green parts in half. Peel the ginger and slice it thinly.
- On the pressure cooker, press the “Sauté” button on your Instant Pot and heat the oil. Cook the pork belly. You can skip this part to cut down the cooking time, but this process will render more fat and make the dish tastier.
- Pour water to cover the meat, then add the green onions and sliced ginger. Cover and lock the lid. Make sure the steam release handle points at “sealing” and not “venting”. Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button on the Instant Pot to stop cooking. Press the “meat/Stew” button to switch to the pressure cooking mode. Cook under pressure for 35 minutes. If you’re using a stove-top pressure cooker, you won’t have the buttons to press. Just cook on high heat until high pressure is reached. Then reduce the heat to low to maintain high pressure for about 30 minutes.
- When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to a “Keep Warm” mode. Slide the steam release handle to the "Venting" position to let out steam until the float valve drops down, OR let the pressure release naturally (takes about 15 mins). Unlock the lid and drain the cooking water and discard the green onion and ginger. Rinse the pork belly under warm water.
- Put the pork belly back in the Instant Pot and add water, sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix the seasonings a little bit and add the boiled eggs. Press the “Sauté” button on the Instant Pot and press “Adjust” once to increase the heat. Bring it to simmer to let the alcohol evaporate. Once the alcohol smell is gone, press “Keep Warm/Cancel” button to turn off the Sauté mode. Cover and lock the lid. Make sure the steam release handle points at “sealing” and not “venting”. Press the “meat/Stew” button to turn on the pressure cooking mode. Press the “minus” button to decrease the cooking time from the preset 35 minutes to 10 minutes.
- When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to a “Keep Warm” mode. Slide the steam release handle to the "Venting" position to let out steam until the float valve drops down and unlock the lid. If you have time (this is optional), press the “Sauté” button and simmer on low heat until the liquid in the cooker has reduced by half.
- Serve the rice in a (donburi) bowl and pour the sauce on top. Place the pork belly and egg (add blanched green vegetable if you have any). Pour additional sauce over the meat and serve immediately. If you like it a bit spicy, sprinkle shichimi toagarashi (Japanese seven spice).
Equipment you will need:
- Pressure Cooker (6 QT Instant Pot) (or other pressure cooker)
Soft Boiled Egg Recipe: here.
Hard Boiled Egg Recipe: here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Looks great and so good that you can cook it in less time 🙂
Love pork belly! Never had it prepared this way, however. It looks amazing! Really, really good. 😉 Thanks so much for this.
What a delicious and rich sounding dish. 🙂
Lovely simple pork recipe I’ll certainly try! Don’t have a pressure cooker and my small kitchen seems full of all kinds of cooking utensils already: no problem – since I work from home the change of ‘hats’ from scribe to chef is easy and the lovely aromas drifting from the pot on the stovetop in the kitchen most welcome. Hoping you are having fine and happy days and that the children are enjoying all their Japanese activities 🙂 !
Hi Eha! I didn’t own a pressure cooker (this slow cooker/pressure cooker in one) until last year. I HATE having another big gadget (no space to store it) but I received Instant Pot as a gift… but I really like it! I didn’t expect that I enjoy this gadget so much. 🙂 At the same time I enjoy cooking on the stove top too… I love hanging out in the kitchen smelling all the nice aroma! I’m having a good time in Japan. Thank you!!
I love pork belly but have only ever had it Thai-style. I will have to try the Japanese version. I do love the look of your boiled eggs xx
Omg! I am sure that pork is just melting in the mouth!
I have one of those pressure cooker pot too. But I struggle to find a way to use it. Love this pork belly recipe! The pork looks very tender and juicy. Totally trying it soon!
Boy, this looks so delicious and there are so many possible ways to enjoy this pork belly! I am so interested in getting a pressure cooker but I just haven’t seen enough recipes for it to make me feel comfortable in getting one. This is a great start.
Looks easy and delicious!
Thanks so much! It is indeed. I like making this when I don’t have much time. 🙂
Pressure cooking this would be good idea, I bet the meat is so tender and that fat melts on your mouth,. Yum!
How convenient to cook this in a short amount of time! I’ve never used a pressure cooker before (a little scared of using one! haha). But it sure sounds useful! Lovely dish Nami!
This looks delicious Nami! I have never used a pressure cooker but this recipe is tempting me to get one.
Oh gosh, Nami – that dish is right up our alley! There’s just something about pork belly thats irresistible. Love those eggs, too!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Hi Nami:
I went ahead and got the Instant Pot because I wanted one device to take the place of my slow cooker and pressure cooker. I made the kakuni and it was really great. Thanks so much for introducing me to the recipe and the device. What I like the best is how easy it is to clean up. There’s no grease splatter or the risk of burnt food since the machine switches to warm after the set time. Are you planning to post any more recipes that use the Instant Pot?
Hi thischris! So happy to hear your feedback and thanks for writing! Isn’t this machine awesome?!?! I always wanted to get both devices but I didn’t have space for them, so I’m super happy with my Instant Pot. I’m glad that your kakuni came out well too!
Yes, I’m planning to share more recipes using this device in the future. Thank you once again!
Now that you have a pressure cooker, do you think you can come with a recipe for a Chinese mochi called Gau
http://www.hawaiianelectric.com/heco/_hidden_Hidden/Recipes/Gau-(Chinese-rice-dessert)
I would think that a pressure cooker would really cut back on the 4 hour steaming time.
I need to try tasting this mochi first! I have no idea how it tastes like. It seems very simple to make with a few ingredients. 🙂
There are other variants of Gau recipe using coconut milk to replace some of the water. Brown sugar can be used to replace the wong tong (Chinese slab sugar, labeled brown sugar candy)
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Please post more recipes using the Instant Pot! Hubby got one for me 2 weeks ago as his anniversary gift to me! It’s been great and cuts down on cooking time significantly for me!
Hi Dora! Happy Anniversary! I’m hoping to post more Instant Pot recipes this winter. I’m waiting for my kitchen remodel is finished and I can start cooking again. 🙂
just bought the instant pot and now I know the first dish I want to try with it…this looks/sounds amazing. Thanks so much again for a wonderful recipe!
Hi Sasha! AWESOME! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami! I made this for dinner last night in the Instapot and it was PHENOMENAL!!!! Thank you so much. It is such a simple, yet richly flavored and delicious dish. I served it with sushi rice. We had the leftovers today and they were just as yummy (if not more!) after the flavors saturated overnight. Thank you!!!
<3 Priyanka @ Priyankaskitchen.com
Hi Priyanka!!! So happy to hear from you! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Yeah the leftover is amazing (plus we can remove the fat once it’s cold, so it’s a bit healthier too). I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hi Nami! I tried your pressure cooker short ribs recipe and it was delicious. I just got the Instant Pot pressure cooker and was so thrilled to not only find your recipe but to also see you using the Instant Pot. This pork belly dish looks tasty, though I don’t have pork belly right now. Do you think it would work if I used pork tenderloins? Thanks!
Hi Amy! I’m so glad to hear you liked the pressure cooker short rib recipe! Yes, I love instant pot and try to share more Japanese instant pot recipes (Did you see my recent Japanese Curry recipe using instant pot?). Pork belly has good fat to make the meat very tender. Never used pork tenderloin for this recipe, but I know for sure that the meat will be tougher and won’t be “melting” texture… If you’re used to lean meat you might be okay, but if you love Kakuni or pork belly texture, I’d say you might be disappointed with the result if you use tenderloin. Sorry! It’s hard to beat the pork belly texture (and fat content is very different…).
Thanks Nami! I ended up making it with both pork tenderloin and a little bit of pork belly I had left and it was still pretty good. I haven’t checked out your curry recipe but I’ll take a look. Would love to see more pressure cooker recipes if you have any! Thanks again!
Hi Amy! I’ll continue to share more pressure cooker recipes (but I can’t share all the time as not everyone has it… :)). Thank you so much for your feedback! I truly appreciate it!
Thanks for the recipe!!! It is great! Can you recommend another cut of meat to substitute for pork belly b/c pork belly are very fat so I can only cook this dish twice a year. Thanks in advance.
Hi Tim! I’m glad to hear you liked the recipe! You can use pork shoulder (this is my next choice) or loin (but it won’t be as ‘melting’ and the meat is not as tender). 🙂
I bought an Instant Pot after reading your blog and I made this dish last night. It was delicious! Looking forward to more of your recipes =)
Yay!!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I’ll share more Instant Pot recipes this fall/winter! 🙂
Hi, I made this and it was delicious.
Instead of 2 steps (35 min, 10 min), could those be combined into one step? Eg put green onion, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, etc and cook for 45 min, then remove green onion and garlic? I guess it would be harder to see the green onion and garlic, but it would make the recipe easier…
Hi hmucha! In Japanese cooking, it’s important to have “clean” flavor, and we consider this pre-boiling (before seasoning) is an important step. We need to throw away the water you cook the pork, and after cleaning the pork, finally we can season it. It’s not the green onion and garlic that we don’t need. That helps the smell reduced. We don’t want that unwanted flavor and fat from the pork… Hope this makes sense. 🙂
Just made this!! Fantastic my husband said and great that there is one piece over for tomorrow, thank you for posting!!!!
Hi Penny! Yay! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Recipe looks great! How and when can I add pickled mustard greens?
Hi Sallye! I think you can just add it as a topping after serving the meat. If you’re talking about pickled one… you don’t need to cook it. 🙂
Thank you for this great recipe！I make it at least 2 times a month and my family loves it! The meat is just melts in your mouth and only take 1/2 hour to make!
Hi Wendy! So happy to hear you like this recipe! Isn’t it great? Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This was fantastic! I’ve made it a few times already. I prefer it with a poached egg to a hard cooked, but the sauce and the meat are just about perfect.
Thank you.
Hi Alan! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe – I was wondering in addition to adding eggs, could you also add other vegetables like carrots or potatoes into the pressure cooker when cooking the pork belly? Having the veggies cook in the sauce sounds like it’ll be really yummy!
Hi Kyouko! Sure you can do that. BUT vegetables tend to cook really fast in a pressure cooker. So if you don’t like mushy vegetables, you can release the pressure and add the vegetables toward the end, or cut vegetables slightly bigger (so it takes longer to cook). Hope this helps! 🙂
Is there a substitute for the pork belly (can’t find it locally) or does that defeat the recipe?
Hi Tyson! I really believe fatty pork belly is the best fit for this recipe, but you might be able to use pork shoulder…but it’ll be more dry. Pork belly can be found in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Mexican market as well as butchers (that’s what I know of in my local stores). Hope you can find it. 🙂
I’m making this for a large crowd. Have you ever doubled the recipe and, if so, did you double the sauce mix or change the cooking time? Thanks!
Hi Amy! I have never doubled the recipe, but as long as it doesn’t exceed the limid for the pressure cooker, it should be okay. I’d increase the sauce as well (same portion) so that it has enough sauce when you serve. 🙂
Hi Amy,
I doubled this recipe on my first try and it tasted amazing. My pork belly did not look as pretty as the pictures but still delicious and when it was all eaten up I was kind of sad there wasn’t more for left overs.
Hi Nami,
More instant pot recipes please 🙂 No pressure but I bought the instant pot just for this recipe, it was a great success and I’m excited to try more!
Sincerely,
Sandy
Hi Sandy! Thank you for responding to Amy! I’m glad it came out well! 🙂
Cool you got an IP! I have more recipes coming, the newest one will be Oxtail Soup. Sorry I haven’t edited yet so I’ll probably need some time before sharing… 🙂
Hi Nami!
Thanks for sharing all these Instant Pot recipes, I wouldn’t know how to use my pressure cooker otherwise! In regards to the sake, is there a type of sake that’s specifically used to cook with or is any sake from the store okay?
Eric
Hi Eric! You’re very welcome, thank you for checking out my recipes. 🙂 I use one of three sake I listed here (based on which one is on sale…). 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/sake/
This was delicious. Everyone really enjoyed the melt in your mouth pork fat. Personally, I might try it again with a little less sugar.
Hi Ben! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Yes, you can use less sugar if you like. 🙂
Hi! My instant pot (philips brand) does not have a sauté function. Can I skip the step? Thank you!!
Hi Natalie! I see. Yeah I guess you have no choice. Cooking/Sauteeing meat and vegetables before actual pressure cooking only adds more flavors and complexity from browning the ingredients.
I don’t have any sake. Is there something else I can substitute or leave out the alcohol altogether? Thank you!
If you can take alcohol, best substitute is Chinese rice wine or dry sherry. 🙂 If you can’t take it due to religious reason, then need the same amount of water. Hope this helps!
Oh. My. Made your braused pork belly today. Even better than I anticipated.
Thanjs so much.
Hi Gayle! So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for your very kind feedback! xo 🙂
Just made this tonight and it was awesome! My husband is Japanese and he loved it, so you know it’s legit. The only thing i regret is not taking your advice, Nami, to use slab pork belly (rather than pre-cut). I bought pre-cut and it cooked down to shredded pieces, rather than the fatty, juicy cubes that we’re used to having in izakayas here in L.A. Next time, I will follow the recipe to a tee. Either way, we thoroughly enjoyed this recipe and we both voted it to be a keeper in our household! Thank you for the amazing dish. Loved it!
Hi AC! I do not know why I didn’t get email notification of your comment, but I might accidentally delete it. I just saw it… I’m sorry!
Thank you for trying this recipe! Actually this is pre-cut recipe. My other Kakuni recipe (https://www.justonecookbook.com/braised-pork-belly-kakuni/) uses a block. This sliced pork belly cut is from Korean, so they are thick cut, compared to Japanese pork belly slices.
Hi Nami,
Hope you are doing well! May I know how the pork used for Kakuni called/labelled in Japan (supermarket)? Sorry I’m quite new to Japan, so I’m not used to the Japanese supermarket yet. I can’t seem to find pork with enough fat to make this dish 🙁 All look pretty lean to me…
Have a nice evening!
Hi Selina! Buta Bara 豚バラ肉 is the sliced pork belly BUT Japanese sliced pork belly are thinner cut than the one I used here as I got these from Korean supermarket. They sell 豚バラ in a block too… I forget how it was written. 🙁 I’m going there in 2 days… I’ll check the grocery store. If you still need my help, could you email or respond to this comment so I get a reminder? 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks a lot for the advice. I would really appreciate if you could help to check the name of pork belly in the Korean supermarket when you happen to go there 🙂 I bought the Japanese sliced pork belly few days ago to make Yakisoba and I think the cut is too thin for making Kakuni. I’m afraid that the meat and the fat may fall off after being braised.
Thank you in advance, and have a nice day!
Hi Selina! What I meant was to go back to Japan in 2 days. So I can go to supermarket and find the pork belly for kakuni block. That’s what you need, right? Yes, Japanese pork belly slices are like bacon, very thin. So You might want to cook as a block or slice thick yourself or cut after being cooked. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Oh I see! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Yup please help me check out the kakuni block when you are back to Japan, but only at your convenience 🙂 I understand that it’s your family trip so it’s okay if you don’t have time for that.
Thank you in advance!
Hi Nami,
I went to the supermarket again yesterday and I think I found it this time. The name is 豚バラブロック, is it correct?
Hi Selina! I apologize for my late response. I had been traveling and didn’t get a chance to go to grocery store to take a pic yet. Yes, it is!! Yay!!!
Hi Nami,
No worries! And thanks for the confirmation 🙂
By the way, I saw your photos updated on your Facebook. Very nice photos! Hope your family had a great trip 🙂
Tried the recipe last week. Loved it! Question: if I were to double the serving size, should I double the seasonings? What about the time in pressure cooker? Thanks!!
Hi Alice! So glad to hear you liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback. You should double the seasonings as well, and cooking time should be same as long as cooking condition is the same. 🙂
Hi in the step 6 above of pork belly recipe, my instant pot didn’t heat up to simmer. even being on for 30mins. Followed exactly your instruction but couldn’t bring it to simmer. Very frustrated. Have to heat it up in a separate pot on stove top to evaporate. Any idea why this is happening? Thank you.
Hi Yvonne! Trying to think why – it doesn’t take that long to get the liquid boiling (in video, you see boiling stage around 2:11). Did you work on a bigger batch? Maybe some condiments were very cold? Your pork wasn’t cold uncooked meat (skipped previous step), right? I am not sure what is wrong in the situation… It’s not much liquid, so liquid + meat in the pot should’t require over 30 mins to start boiling…
Do I have to include eggs in this recipe?
Hi Kenya! Nope, no need. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
ohenji arigato. yoi ichinichio
I asked my good friend Minori how to say this, lol I hope I said the right thing. Thanks
Arigato Kenya!
Yes you got it right! 🙂
I can’t believe how good this is! I made it tonight and It is the best pork belly I’ve ever had by far. I’ve tried all of your pressure cooker recipes, they all turned out so well. Thank you so much!
Hi Bonster! I’m glad you enjoyed this dish! I’m going to post next pressure cooker recipe soon.. I’ve been delaying for 2 months! Hope you will like that too. 🙂
please provide instruction with stove-top pressure cooker, after the first 30 mins, do another 15 mins with eggs? will the eggs over cook?
Hi Cindy! You can follow the same cooking time. Egg should be okay (as you see in my pictures) but if you are worried about green circle around the eggs, you can add in later too. 🙂
Loved this–instant pot makes it so much faster! Followed the recipe exactly and next time I will take down the sugar to 3 Tbsp. It was a tad too sweet for me with 1/4 cup. But definitely a fabulous version of a Japanese classic.
Hi Ilonka! Yes, IP is such a great time saver and I love it too! I’m glad you figured out your level of sweetness. 🙂 Thank you for your kind comment! xo
YUMMERS. I finally made this dish. This was the recipe (when it first came out) that made me want to get an instant pot because I had to have this deliciousness! 3 years later…I got my instant pot and after mulling about it I finally tried this recipe. And it did not disappoint.The only thing I did differently was add in the greens at the very end. I am still very much a novice with the instant pot but we all agree this is definitely as oishii as one of the japanese restaurants in town! Thank you!
Hi Tasha! Haha, I’m so happy you finally tried this recipe! Thank you for your kind words! New Instant Pot recipe coming this weekend too. 😉 Hope you enjoy making delicious recipes using IP! xo
Question … for the boiled eggs, should it be somewhat raw inside? Did you use instant pot to make those eggs and at which setting? Thanks!
Hi Mel! You can use either soft boiled or hard boiled eggs. It’s really up to one’s preference and there is no specific type that is required for Kakuni. 🙂 In Notes section, I link my recipes for hard boiled and soft boiled eggs (using regular stovetop method).
Do I slice the pork belly before cooking? And if so, how thick should I slice them? Thank you and keep on doing the great work!
Hi Monette! I used the pre-sliced pork belly from Korean grocery store – their slices are much thicker than Japanese pork belly slices (Japanese version is bacon thickness, while Korean is about triple thickness).
If you’re going to get a block, you can cook with block, and cut later OR you can slice first. Freeze 2-3 hours or so you can slice thinly. I’d go with the same thickness so you can follow the exact recipe. 8 mm thickness would be good I think.
Wish we were still in San Diego or Japan! We only had blocks here and I sliced them thinly. The blocks were more fatty than meaty, so they looked like they melted. It was delicious, nonetheless. Wish it looked presentable like the ones you had and the ones we had in Japan! Thanks again!
Hi Monette! It’s great that you could find pork belly blocks – I know that some readers said it is hard to find pork belly, except for bacon… You can freeze for a few hours and then slice too. It will be easier to slice that way. 🙂 Thank you so much for trying this recipe!
I just made this. It’s yummy and hubby approves. Thank you, Nami! Love your recipes.
Hi Mydao! I’m so happy to hear you two enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
I am a graduate student living in California, from Taiwan. I love your website so much! I ate so much Japanese food growing up in Taiwan so Japanese food is very important to me. I love your miso soup and pressure cooker kakuni recipes. The instant pot is saving me so much time on cooking, it is amazing. I cook Japanese curry a lot, but I look forward to trying it out in the Instant Pot in a few days. Especially because I have my PhD exams in two months, eating well and cooking quickly is super important for me! Thank you so much!
Hi Amanda! I’m really happy to hear you enjoy my recipes, and thank you for your very sweet and encouraging words. My husband (who also grew up in Taiwan) has great memory of grandma’s food that had a lot of Japanese influence. 🙂
I will try my best to add more instant pot recipes but here are what I have currently on my blog:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/?fwp_cooking_method=slow-cooker
I love pulled pork recipe that I recently posted. You can make a rice bowl, tacos, sandwich… great way to freeze and pop into the oven to reheat to enjoy. Good luck with your exam!
Hi Nami!
The kakuni is bubbling away as I type and I had a burning question: do I REALLY have to throw away all that porky broth? Is there another acceptable use for it? It seems a waste…I know you want a clean flavor for the kakuni but perhaps the broth in another use would be ok? Like a ramen broth perhaps or some other stew…I’d love to hear your thoughts, thank you!
Hi Soleilnyc! I apologize for my late response (due to my travel). Typically we do not use the first boiling liquid in Japanese cooking. But I learned that Okinawan cuisine (similar to Chinese cooking), they keep the first boiling water and make soup stock for Okinawa Soba!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/okinawa-soba/
It’s too weak for ramen. I would use it for this Okinawa Soba recipe. 🙂
Oh, my mouth is watering just looking at the photos! One question: do you peel your eggs before putting them in the instant pot or do they go in with their shells on?
Many thanks!
Hi Art! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂 Yes, peel the eggs first, and then add to the IP. Hope you enjoy!
Just wanted to let you know that I made this last night for my family. It was wonderful. It’s all gone… Next time I’m going to have to double the recipe!
(sorry, I forgot to take a picture)
Hi Tina! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe and your family enjoyed it! Yay!!! Don’t worry about the picture, I’m so glad you had a great meal with your family! And thanks for writing your feedback here. xo
Hi,Nami-san, I’m a Japanese wife married to a Russian-American guy, living in Japan.
The pressure cooker which I had been using since we got married had broken several month ago, then my husband bought Instant Pot by Amazon suddenly. I was upset, coz almost just few instruction or recipes in Japanese on the internet , even in the Japanese biggest cooking site “ cookpad “ doesn’t have anything. But finally, I could find your website, that is ,saving my cooking life everyday!
I have been trying to cook several recipes, all are quite awesome! Including Kakuni, Nikujaga, Bolognese sauce, and so on. I’m looking forward to finding more recipes especially for instant pot. I really really appreciate you, Nami-san!
Hi Mina-san! Aww thank you so much for your kind words, and I’m glad you found my site! I live in the US (San Francisco) so I cook Japanese food with ingredients I can find from a local Japanese grocery store (which we can buy almost everything, but not too many choices to pick from). Hope you find my site and recipes useful. 🙂 And have fun cooking in IP! I’ll be adding more Japanese IP recipes to the site this fall/winter!
Hi Nami,
Would it be possible to cook the pork belly whole the entire time and slice only when serving? Do I need to increase cooking time?
Hi Jade! You can, but for the meat to soak up the flavor, I recommend to boil a big block first and cut into smaller pieces before adding seasoning. Hope that helps!
Wow, simply amazing! This tasted just like the Kakuni I had in Japan! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!!!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Leslie! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Do you use skin off or skin on pork belly for this recipe?
Hi Trudy! Pork belly block sold at Japanese market is usually already skin off. 🙂
I’ve enjoyed cooking your other recipes and this one looks delicious, too. You used dashi in the traditional stove top version. Is there a reason dashi is not needed here? I recently bought an instant pot, but I’m not sure how to modify traditinal recipes for the IP, any tips would be greatlt appreciated 🙂
Hi Guangye! I keep it simple in this recipe as making dashi can be one extra step for many (I don’t mind). You can replace ½ cup water with ½ cup dashi for more flavor. I don’t always make the same dish and always find a way to arrange a dish. So feel free to adjust, but keep the liquid amount same. Thank you so much for trying my recipes! And happy cooking with your new IP! 🙂
I made it on Christmas Eve with the instant pot I got for Christmas (the family let me open it early). Even I was wowed at how delicious and delicate the flavors were. Less than a month later I bought more pork belly and am making it again.
Hi Jufr! Welcome to the IP club. 😀 So happy to hear you tried this recipe and enjoyed it (and are making it again!). Thank you very much for your kind comment. 🙂
Delicious. I added carrots and turnips and cut back on sugar. Fantastic meal.
Hi V! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Have just made this recioe this morning, and I really enjoy it, thanks so much for creating the recipe 😀
Hi Christine! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nani, I love all your recipes and a big hello from Australia. I have a question about this pork dish. I have just bought a instant pot and I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow.
If I blanched the pork in boiling water before pressure cooking, can I skip the step of draining water and washing it after cooking? Can I put all the seasoning and water into the half cooked and washed pork? ( Australian pork has a game smell and I usually blanch it with boiling water and ginger,n wash it before stewing.
Thank you very much.
Hi Jasmine! I’m sorry for my late response. Thank you for trying out my recipes. 🙂
So what you’re saying is that you will boil the water first, add in the pork to blanch (which means just short cooking), and then wash. Well, it comes down to preference, but it doesn’t render fat enough in such a short cooking time and then later you will be cooking in a fatty sauce. In Japanese cooking, we prefer more “clean” taste and this pre-cooking time is actually important before seasoning. But again, this is all preference. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Hi Nami-san, I made kakuni with instant pot for the first time tonight. Your recipe worked so well! My family loved it. I have a question, but how thinly do you cut the pork belly block? I do not think you mentioned about it in your recipe. Thank you for creating all the easy-to-follow delicious recipes!
I just read the other comments and found that you said that you buy pre-sliced meat from Korean grocery store. I have never shopped at Korean grocery store. Which store do you recommend in SF? Thank you for your advice!
Sorry I just read this comment. One in Sunnyvale, Hankook Supermarket. 🙂 There is one in Daly City too.
Thank you for your reply! I will try those stores next time I make kakuni!
Hi Fumiko-san! I’m glad this recipe worked out for you! Thank you for trying this recipe.
Ah thanks for bringing to my attention. I used a pre-sliced pork belly from the Korean market for this recipe. It was roughly 1/4 inches. I updated the recipe. 🙂
So good