Succulent pork belly fried in a caramel soy sauce glaze and served on top of Japanese steamed white rice, Butadon is a comforting dish that originates from Tokachi, a region in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Not only is it delicious, but it's also quick to make!
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Butadon
What is Butadon
Butadon (豚丼) is a simple yet delicious pork rice bowl dish. Pork butt or pork belly is cut into slices and then fried in a homemade caramel soy sauce, a little similar to teriyaki. Because this sauce has a caramel base, the taste has a more complex flavour and even a slight bitterness to it.
Butadon is always made using Japanese white rice and I highly recommend using Japanese rice for donburi dishes. The sticky texture allows you to pick it up easily with chopsticks! If you're unsure how to cook Japanese style rice, I have a post about it here! (No rice cooker required!)
Finally, butadon is usually topped with green peas, edamame or "shiraganegi" (the white part of a long Japanese onion cut into strings). You can also serve it with takuan pickles and miso soup for a complete meal!
Origin of Butadon
Butadon originates from a region in Hokkaido called "Tokachi" (十勝). It's well known for it's high quality pork and locally grown rice, served together it creates the most comforting rice bowl dish.
Pig farming started in the early 1900's in the Tokachi region and the pork was simply steeped in sugar and soy sauce and then cooked on a grill, creating a charred effect. Although grilling is preferred, my recipe only requires a frying pan and I can promise you, it's still delicious.
Butadon is now a regional dish that Tokachi is extremely proud of, if you ever get a chance to go there you should definitely try it out!
Ingredients
Butadon only needs a few ingredients, it's a simple and accessible dish no matter where you are in the world! Even harder to find Japanese ingredients like sake or mirin can be substituted. Read below for more information on each ingredient!
Pork
Pork with plenty of fat is used for butadon. I recommend using either pork belly, pork butt or pork shoulder for this dish. If you use pork with a lower fat ratio it could become a bit tough.
I usually buy a block of pork and cut it into thick slices myself, you don't need any special thinly sliced pork for this dish.
Sauce
The sauce also only requires a handful of ingredients! The Japanese ingredients should be easy to find in Asian supermarkets.
- Sugar and water (to make caramel from scratch)
- Soy sauce (I used Kikkoman soy sauce)
- Sake
- Mirin (I used Kikkoman mirin)
- Honey
Sake and mirin are types of alcohol made from rice and are commonly used in Japanese cooking. If you don't have access to sake, you can use Chinese rice wine or dry sherry instead. If you can't find mirin, add a little extra sake and sugar.
Some people might be unsure about using alcohol in cooking, I can assure you that the alcohol will be burned away during the cooking process. However, if you really don't want to use them you can just substitute for water. (It might be lacking slightly though.)
Donburi
If you enjoyed this butadon dish, you'll love some of these other rice bowl recipes!
- Yakinikudon (Beef fried in a yakiniku BBQ style sauce and served on rice)
- Katsudon (Crispy pork cutlet and steamed egg served on rice)
- Gyudon (Thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in a dashi sauce, served on rice)
- Garlic Teriyaki Chicken don (Flavourful chicken thigh coated in a garlic infused teriyaki sauce and served on rice)
- Oyakodon (Delicious pan fried chicken and steamed egg served on rice)
Watch how to make Tokachi Butadon
Frequently Asked Questions
"Buta" (豚) is the Japanese word for pig or pork, "don" is short for "donburi"(丼) which means rice bowl. So together it simply means pork rice bowl.
I recommend a fatty cut of pork, preferably pork belly, butt or shoulder. Lean cuts tend to get dry/tough in this dish.
If you have a chance, you should try butadon in the region it's famous for! Tokachi in Hokkaido!
Tokachi Butadon (Hokkaido Pork Rice Bowl)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
How to make comforting and delicious Tokachi Style Butadon (Pork Rice Bowl). Succulent pork belly fried in a caramel soy sauce, served on a steaming bowl of white rice and topped with "shiraganegi" onion strings and green peas. (Serves 2)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp + 40ml water
- 1 tsp sake
- 1 tsp mirin
- 5 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 250g - 300g pork belly block
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 bowls of cooked white rice
- Optional garnish - chopped white part of a spring onion, peas or edamame
- Optional sides - takuan pickles or miso soup
Instructions
- First, if you're garnishing your butadon with "shiraganegi" cut the white parts of a long onion into thin strips and soak in cold water until serving. (This softens the taste and removes any bitterness.)
- Next, take your pork block and cut it into thick slices. (Approx ½cm or ¼ inch)
- Now you can make the caramel sauce. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of water to a cold pan (I recommend using a silver or white pan so you can see the caramel change colour. Don't use non-stick as the caramel might damage non-stick surfaces.)
- Add the pan to a medium heat and allow the sugar and water to bubble, do not mix or interfere with the caramel.
- Once it starts to become golden in colour, add 40ml water. (Be careful and wear oven gloves or long sleeves, the mixture might splash and it sizzles a lot!) Swirl the pan around to mix the water into the caramel.
- Add 1 tsp sake, 1 tsp mirin, 5 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp of honey.
- Let it thicken slightly and then turn off the heat and set aside for later.
- Heat a frying pan on medium-high, once it's hot, add 2 tsp vegetable oil.
- Add the pork slices to the pan and fry on one side until browned.
- Flip the pork slices and pour the caramel sauce all over.
- Fry until the sauce thickened and the pork is coated, it should only take a couple of minutes. (You'll need to move the pork slices around the pan to pick up the sauce.)
- Dish up two bowls of white rice and place the pork slices on top.
- Garnish with the shiraganegi and green peas (or edamame).
- Serve with miso soup and takuan pickles (optional).
- Enjoy!
Notes
This dish is best made with pork belly, pork butt or pork shoulder.
Sake can be substituted for Chinese rice wine or dry sherry.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Meat
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
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