Featured in the popular Japanese drama “Kodoku no Gurume,” this Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly is cooked in a savory soy sauce base with a hint of sweetness and a touch of spicy ginger. It’s a quick meal that you can prepare in less than 20 minutes.
After requests from many JOC readers, I started to share recipes featured in the popular Japanese TV drama – Kodoku no Gurume (孤独のグルメ). The main character Gorō is a Japanese salaryman who is in sales. As a salesman, Gorō travels across Japan, visiting restaurants and street booths to sample the local cuisine. Each chapter features a different place and dish.
This TV drama has been around for years in Japan, and currently, Season 7 is on air. Unfortunately, it is not available on Netflix like Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories here in the States, but it’s available on Netflix Japan and other sources.
Whether you have access to the show or not, I want to share all the delicious foods the main character Goro-san enjoyed in the show and I hope you’d join me in cooking up the dishes wherever you are. Today we’re making Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly (豚バラ生姜焼き) from Season 6, Episode 2.
Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly Recipe from Kodoku no Gurume
The show shares a quick glance at how the dish is made, so I give my best attempt to cook the dish in the same way from the few seconds of the scene. It’s different from how I normally cook my Ginger Pork (Shogayaki), but I would like you to know that there are many ways to make this popular home-cooked dish.
This particular Ginger Pork – or Shogayaki (生姜焼き) in Japanese – uses pork belly slices. My recipe uses thinly sliced tender pork loin which has more meat and less fat. The pork belly slices have more fat, but they are juicier, tastier, and more fulfilling (especially for those who enjoy heavier food). And this ginger pork uses more sauce too. More sauce means ‘bring on your appetite!’. Even the drama character requested a (complimentary) second bowl of steamed rice to enjoy the delicious sauce.
Pan Fried Ginger Pork Belly “Set (Meal)” or “Teishoku”
In Japan, the lunch menu typically comes in a “set (meal)” called Teishoku (定食). The set usually comes with a main dish of your choice, along with steamed rice, miso soup, some pickles, and 1-2 side dishes (you get to pick sometimes). The “set meal” menu is based on the Japanese “One Soup Three Dishes” or “Ichiju-Sansai (一汁三菜)” concept when serving a meal, and you can read more details about it in this post.
In the show, he ordered “Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly Set (Meal)” and the set comes with:
- Steamed rice
- Asari miso soup (Clam Miso Soup)
- Simmered Bamboo Shoots
- Pickled Tomatoes with minced onion (Recipe coming soon)
- Pickled Cucumber and pickled napa cabbage
- Mentaiko with grated daikon
- Natto with chopped green onion
As you can see, the menu covers carbohydrates, protein, vegetables, pickles, fermented food, and a considerable amount of Omega-3-rich seafood. No doubt a highly nutritious and wholesome meal, it is also a representation of how much thought that goes into a typical Japanese meal.
In case you’re wondering how we can cook up so many dishes for one lunch, the strategy is advance planning. Most of the side dishes can be prepared ahead and last for the entire week. For those of you who are interested in making Japanese home-cooked meals more often, I hope this set menu gives you some inspiration.
JOC Kodoku no Gurume Recipes Series
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Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly
Ingredients
- ¼ head green cabbage (11 oz, 312 g)
- 1 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) (or use 2–3 green onions; you’ll need about 4–6 Tbsp chopped)
- 2 tsp ginger (grated, with juice; from a 1-inch, 2.5-cm knob)
- 8 oz sliced pork belly (cut in half or smaller, if needed)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Make the sauce. In a bowl or a liquid measuring cup, combine 3 Tbsp sake, 3 Tbsp mirin, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp soy sauce. Mix well. Divide into 2 portions. Tip: You can save the sauce for up to a week.
- Cut off the core of ¼ head green cabbage and shred the cabbage into thin slices. I like using a cabbage slicer that yields superfine shredded cabbage.
- Cut 1 Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) until you have about 4–6 Tbsp chopped negi (or as much as you‘d like to use). Here, I use about 2–3 Tbsp of chopped negi per serving. Peel and grate the ginger knob until you have 2 tsp ginger (grated, with juice); you‘ll need about 1 tsp per serving.
To Cook Each Serving
- I‘m cooking one serving at a time. Heat a nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat. Divide the 8 oz sliced pork belly pieces into 2 portions. Add one portion of pork to the pan without overlapping the meat too much. It’s okay if it does a little bit. Once the oil starts to render from the pork, add in one serving of the sauce. Note: If you’re using a stainless steel frying pan or cast iron skillet, I recommend applying a little bit of oil first. The oil from the pork belly should be enough to cook the meat without sticking to the pan.
- Then, add 1 tsp grated ginger with juice and 2–3 Tbsp chopped negi.
- Mix the ginger and negi in the sauce. Flip the meat once in a while to cook thoroughly.
To Serve
- Place 1 serving of shredded cabbage on an individual plate and transfer the Pan-Fried Ginger Pork Belly and sauce. Repeat to cook the remaining serving. Serve immediately.
Made this tonight with rice, pickled carrots and beets, and stir-fried mizuna and beet greens.
It was DELICIOUS! So savory and rich. Even my spouse, who normally doesn’t eat fatty cuts like pork belly, loved it.
Thank you for the recipe! We’ll have to make it again.
Hi Rachael! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the dish. Your meal menu sounds so delicious too.🤩 Happy Cooking!
Hi Nami,
Can I check if we can use pork belly sukiyaki cut from supermarket for this dish?
Hi Wei! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Yes, you can use sukiyaki cut.
We hope this helps!
I tried this recipe yesterday. Although my husband loves your shogayaki recipe, my son not so much. But this recipe was a hit with both. It’s interesting how a simple twist in the recipe changes the outcome!
Hi Kessia! I’m glad you got thumbs up from both this time! Yeah, I agree. You know, we use soy sauce, mirin, and sake for majority of Japanese food, but with different ratios. With a slight difference, it is a simmered food (Nimono) and teriyaki sauce. LOL. Thank you for your kind feedback, Kessia! xo
Midnight Diner is a wonderful show. Samurai Gourmet is another show that I enjoy very much. The show goes from funny to serious and at times, touching.
Hi Bkhuna! That’s true! I’m so happy to hear you like watching those shows too! 🙂
nami – i am allergic to ginger soo if i don’t add ginger in it, will it taste strange? is there a ginger substitute?
Hi Je! You can simply skip it. 🙂
I made this recipe twice, but it is too oily for me, though my family did not complain about it. I think I prefer using pork loin and marinating the meat first before cooking like the traditional way for Shogayaki.
Hi Fumiko! Thank you for trying this recipe twice. This recipe is based on the Japanese drama show Kodoku no Gurume (孤独のグルメ), and the recipe (ingredients and instruction) is exactly how it’s cooked in the show.
You probably know already but the amount of fat in each pork belly slice is quite different in Japan and US (even though the pork belly is from a Japanese market here). The pork belly slices in Japan have much less fat. Therefore, one way to avoid the oil from the pork belly is to cut off the fat before cooking. Or like you said, you can always use thinly sliced pork loin.
Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
Nami-san
ありがとうございます！ Thanks for the totemo oishii washoku recipes. My wife is CRAZY for the Yaki Udon, which I also make with shrimp and scallops. FYI, there are a few websites that you can find Kodoko no Gurume. Search for dramagalaxy. It’s a little buggy, but I was able to watch all of season one and I’m on season 2 now. I really suggest your readers check it out – although it will make you hungry and start cooking every recipe here!
じゃね！
こんにちは、Ray! Thank you for your kind words on my recipes! I love yaki udon too! So easy and versatile and delicious!
Thanks for sharing the website to watch Kodoku no Gurume. I am not sure all these sites are illegal or not, so I couldn’t recommend/say in the blog post just in case…. 😀
そですね！ Yes as a bengoshi I understand. Meanwhile, someday you should check out Green & Red Vineyards, our family wine in Napa. It’s the house red at Chez Panisse. We will be moving out near you soon. Best.
Hi Ray! I’ve never been to your family winery before but I noted and would love to visit when I go to St. Helena next time! Thank you for letting me know!
Anyone interested, here’s Ray’s site: http://www.greenandred.com/index.html
Hi i’m cooking this recipe right now.whats the difference between bbq porkbelly and single porkbelly?
Hi Ramon! I am not sure if I understood your question about BBQ or Single pork belly. You will need thinly slices of pork belly as you see in the recipe ingredient picture. 🙂
hi nami, made this today it was delicious! i didn’t have pork belly so i used thinly sliced pork loin, it turned out great 🙂 i wanted to ask you if there is a substitute cut for pork belly that you recommend, for recipes like this thinly sliced and for braised ones like kakuni. thank you very much !
Hi Matt! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you gave this recipe a try and glad you enjoyed it. Pork belly has lots of fat, and there is no cut like this, but… pork collar is pretty tender and fatty… then down to pork shoulder. Much less fat than pork belly though. I’m not sure where you’re from, but if you live in the U.S., try finding pork belly from Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Mexican grocery stores. Those are the stores I know that carry pork belly. Only Japanese and Korean grocery stores carry sliced pork belly. If you get a block, you can always slice on your own:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-slice-meat/
Hope that helps! 🙂
thank you nami, im from Argentina btw, there is great meat here but the cuts vary from other countries. pork belly isn’t always available unless you ask a butcher since its typically used for cured meat (pancetta, bacon) i will try to replace with other fatty cuts similar to “boston butt” (it’s from the shoulder i think) its called bondiola here. if i don’t find some pork belly. 🙂
Hi Matt! Ahh! Argentina! Okay, yes that’s a good substitute. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Dear Nami
I love your site. I am making your warm mushroom salad again an I am going to do this pork belly thing tonite for dinner although instead of pork belly, I am going to use a ham steak which I have in my fridge. Thank you so very much. I recently started a food blog as well, not nearly as good or as detailed as yours, but it’s a start for me. nibblesandbits.blog is the name. Follow me if you can find the time in your busy busy schedule. thank you again for this wonderful site.
Hi Angela! Congratulations on starting your blog! You don’t probably know how my website looked like in 2011 when I started… so don’t worry about it. Work on creating good contents that are helpful for others (unless this is just a journal for yourself – then that’s different story).
I’m happy to hear you enjoy the warm mushroom salad! Thank you for your kind words!
Hi Nami-san, I love Japanese comfort food like Shogayaki. Is it still possible to cook all the meat at once? By the way, I love all your recipes and I wish I could apply to be your son 🙂
Hi Christopher! Ha ha! My son thinks I’m strict… are you ready?! 😀 HAHAHA.
You can, but 1) you will need a bigger pan (mine is 11 inch), or 2) do in batches. Cook until pork belly shrinks a little and take it out for new slices…then put back in the pan and add sauce? I follow the way how this recipe was made in the TV drama, hence I made for one person at a time. 🙂
Hello Nami, I am on a low carb program and the Mirin in the recipe is very high in carbs can I leave it out or do you know of a substitute. I am also going to use Coconut Aminos in place of the soy sauce. Thank you for taking the time to answer.
Hi Leslie! Mirin and sugar are counter part of soy sauce. So it also depends on how much soy sauce you add (If you add more soy sauce, you have to add more sugar and/or mirin). So it’s inevitable to cut down on the soy sauce for you. To be honest, you won’t need that much “sauce” for this recipe. I copied the way how this dish was created in the TV drama I mentioned in the post. The main character enjoy the sauce with shredded cabbage. So you can cut down on the portion here. What’s good sweetener for you? You can use it instead of mirin or sugar. Make sure to balance off saltiness from soy sauce. FYI, mirin gives the “glaze” of Teriyaki sauce (Teri means shine in Japanese). So your result may not be exactly same, as it’s hard to achieve it with sugar only. 🙂