Kurobota Pork Nabe Mille-Feuille
One of the most beautiful dishes from my friend Emily Lai, this Nabe Mille-Feuille is a savory Japanese take on the classic French dessert made with thin layers of puff pastry. It is the layering of the cabbage and pork that emulate this French term, which translates to “thousand leaf”. It’s a visually appealing dish that is very popular in Japan and is simple yet well seasoned because of the use of the fatty pork, Kurobota. Kurobota pork, which comes from a Berkshire pig, is highly marbled and tends to have darker more flavorful meat. If you can’t find Kurobota pork, you can use any other type of heritage breed of pork to give it that juicy tenderness.
Skill Level: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
To Make in Advance: Vegetable Stock and Sesame Miso Sauce
Preparation: Stovetop
Ingredients:
¼ cup shiro (white) miso
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup sake (rice wine) or white wine
6 cups vegetable stock (you can substitute store bought low-sodium broth)
One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
4 teaspoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
2 pounds thinly sliced (about ¼ inch thick) pork belly, preferably Kurobota
1 head Napa cabbage - cleaned, trimmed, leaves separated.
Steamed rice, for serving
Directions:
In a large pot, whisk the miso with the tahini, sake, vegetable stock, ginger, shoyu and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer while you assemble the hot pot, about 15 minutes.
Sandwich one slice of pork between two leaves of cabbage, and then cut crosswise into three two- to three-inch sections set aside on a work surface. In a 4-quart hot pot or large saucepan, nestle the cabbage and pork on their sides in the pot, cut side up. They should fit snugly.
Repeat with the remaining cabbage and pork until all pork is used up. If you have remaining cabbage leaves, you can tuck them in around the edges of the pot and anywhere there is a gap.
Heat the hot pot over medium-high heat (about 425 degrees for an electric hot pot) until you can hear the pork and cabbage begin to sizzle, about 3 to 4 minutes. Pour the warm broth over the cabbage and pork until just covered and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low and simmer until the cabbage is tender and the pork is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with some of the broth poured over the top, the Sesame Miso Sauce for dipping and steamed rice on the side.