Cheater's Weeknight Okinawa Soba
沖縄そば
Obaa's Pot on the Stove: Slow-Simmered Weekend Comforts
Real-deal Okinawa soba is a labor of love that requires boiling massive blocks of pork belly for hours to render the fat and clarify the broth—a romantic notion, but fundamentally useless to you on a Tuesday night. Thankfully, modern Okinawan grandmas aren't martyrs. They use the 'kurukuru' trick: rolling paper-thin slices of pork belly with a little starch to mimic that melt-in-your-mouth braise in a fraction of the time. Combine that with a mathematically sound broth cheat using instant dashi and chicken bouillon to bridge the umami gap, and you get a bowl that tastes exactly like the islands without the all-day affair.
Before you start
Thaw the pork belly.
If you are using frozen shabu-shabu pork belly, be sure to thaw it overnight in the refrigerator so the ultra-thin slices can be separated and rolled without tearing.
Ingredients
- thinly sliced shabu-shabu pork belly12 oz
- potato starch1 tbsp
- neutral cooking oil1 tsp
- Japanese soy sauce2 tbsp
- sake2 tbsp
- dark brown sugar1 1/2 tbsp
- fresh ginger1 tsp
- water1/4 cup
- water4 cup
- instant bonito soup stock granules2 tsp
- powdered chicken bouillon2 tsp
- light soy sauce1 tbsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- fresh udon or thick ramen noodles1 lb
- Japanese fish cake1 small
- red pickled ginger2 tbsp
- scallions2 med
- Awamori chili sauce1 tsp
Method
- 01
Dust and roll the pork belly slices.
Lay the thin pork belly slices flat on a cutting board, dust them lightly with potato starch using a small sieve, and roll them up tightly from one end to the other to form little logs.
- 02
Sear the rolled pork until golden brown.
Heat the neutral oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, place the pork logs in the pan seam-side down to seal them, and cook until crisped on all sides, about four to five minutes.
- 03
Wipe away the excess fat.
Use a folded paper towel to wipe out most of the rendered fat from the pan, leaving just about a teaspoon behind so your final soup doesn't end up an oily mess.
- 04
Braise the pork in a sweet soy glaze.
Whisk the Japanese soy sauce, sake, dark brown sugar, grated ginger, and quarter cup of water together, pour it over the pork, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer covered for six to eight minutes until it reduces to a sticky, glossy glaze.
- 05
Build the cheat broth.
While the pork braises, bring four cups of water to a boil in a medium pot, then stir in the bonito granules, chicken bouillon, light soy sauce, and kosher salt until completely dissolved.
- 06
Steal a spoonful of the pork glaze for the soup.
Whisk exactly one teaspoon of the sticky, rendered braising liquid from the pork pan directly into the hot broth to seamlessly bridge the flavors and introduce that essential sweet pork aroma.
- 07
Boil the noodles.
In a separate pot, cook the noodles according to their package directions, draining them thoroughly but pointedly ignoring any instructions to rinse them, as the residual surface starch helps the soup cling.
- 08
Assemble the bowls and serve immediately.
Divide the hot noodles between two deep, pre-warmed bowls, ladle the steaming hot broth over the top, and arrange the glossy pork rolls, fanned fish cake, a generous mound of pickled ginger, sliced scallions, and a splash of chili sauce.
Notes
Source your pork belly carefully.
Look specifically for shabu-shabu or hot pot sliced pork belly in the freezer aisle of your local Asian market. Do not try to substitute American bacon; it is heavily cured and smoked, which will entirely ruin the flavor profile.
Chase the Awamori bite.
Awamori is a funky, distilled Okinawan rice liquor that is notoriously tough to find stateside. If you want that specific earthy bite, substitute the sake in the braise with a fifty-fifty mix of dry sake and white tequila or vodka.
Make your own Koregusu.
If you can't find the traditional Okinawan chili sauce to finish the dish, make a bootleg version by dropping three to four small, dried Thai bird's eye chilies into a miniature bottle of vodka and letting it sit in a dark cupboard for a week.
From Cook Okinawan in America.