Before you read any further absolute apologies for crap photo.

Had no idea what I was going to cook when I put some pork belly in my trolley at the supermarket. Figured something inspirational would happen in between then and the following day. Mr MWCED isn’t usually too fond of pork belly so knew I had to find something that would at least get a pass mark. And then I found this great recipe on http://thepaddingtonfoodie.com/2013/09/06/another-offering-from-the-japanese-izakaya-butabara-grilled-pork-belly-skewers-with-green-spring-onion/ and I just knew it was going to taste great. I didn’t have exactly all the ingredients, so had to make a few changes:

1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/4 cup dashi or chicken stock – I used chicken stock
1/4 cup mirin
4 tablespoons sake – no sake in the cupboard so I used White wine which was very handily placed beside me
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper- yikes what kind of Cook am I, no white, subbed black
1 kg slab pork belly – our piece was about 800g, plenty for 2 of us!
8 long green spring onions, trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths – no spring onions, subbed shallots, which I liked but Mr MWCED says try spring onions next time. Whatever….
20 bamboo skewers – I made about 16skewers

SOAK skewers in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain.
REMOVE skin from the pork belly and slice thinly into 1.5cm – 2cm thick rashers. Then slice each rasher into 4 cm wide strips.
MEANWHILE, combine soy sauce, stock, mirin, sake (or wine), sugar and pepper in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. at this stage I tasted the marinade and added a little hoisin and sweet chilli sauce, which just toned it down a little, probably because I had used dark soy sauce.
Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Allow to cool completely.
PLACE sliced pork in a glass or ceramic bowl. Coat with half the cooled sauce. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
THREAD pork and spring onions – or shallots or anything that takes your fancy – onto skewers. Place onto a paper lined tray. no paper lined tray for us, as you can see, straight onto the BBQ plate .Brush with some of the reserved sauce.
PREHEAT bbq or grill on medium-high heat until hot. Grill skewers, basting with sauce, for 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through.

Now you could make crackling from the pork skin, but I’m trying to reduce fats, so ours is not going to be all yummy and crispy and salty and heavenly. ‘Sigh’

We lucked out with a warm still night so BBQ was perfectly timed. Added some BBQ zucchini (yep still picking plenty from the garden) and crispy potatoes which had already been parboiled, together with a fresh salad. And Mr MWCED approved.