Go Back
Buta kimchi — Japanese pork and kimchi stir-fry with onion and garlic chives, served on a blue plate with rice and salad

Buta Kimchi (Japanese Pork and Kimchi Stir-Fry)

Thin-sliced pork belly, onion, and garlic chives stir-fried with napa cabbage kimchi and finished with a splash of mentsuyu. A ten-minute one-pan Japanese weeknight dinner.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 11 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g thin-sliced pork belly about 7 oz; cut into bite-size pieces
  • 100 g napa cabbage kimchi about 3.5 oz; cut into bite-size pieces, brine included
  • 1/2 onion sliced thin
  • 1/3 bunch nira (garlic chives) cut into 3 cm / 1 in lengths
  • 1/2 tbsp sesame oil toasted
  • 2 tsp mentsuyu 2x concentrate; use 1/2 tbsp if 3x concentrate
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper for the pork

Method
 

  1. Slice the onion thin, cut the nira into 3 cm (1 in) lengths, and cut the kimchi into bite-size pieces. Have everything ready before you start cooking.
  2. Cut the pork belly into bite-size pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper. Go light, because the kimchi is already salty.
  3. Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat until fragrant but not smoking.
  4. Add the pork and onion together and stir-fry over medium heat until the pork has changed color all the way through and the onion is soft and translucent.
  5. Add the kimchi with all of its brine and stir through for about a minute, until the liquid reduces slightly and coats the pork.
  6. Add the nira and the mentsuyu and toss quickly for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until the chives turn bright green. Serve immediately with hot white rice.