Name: Yakiton with shichimi togarashi
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 300 gm pork belly, cut into 3cm x 1cm strips; To serve: shichimi togarashi (see note) and toasted sesame seeds; Pickles; 1 telegraph cucumber, thickly sliced; 200 gm daikon, thinly sliced; 100 gm black fungi; ½ tsp fine salt; 250 ml (1 cup) brown rice vinegar; 1 tbsp caster sugar; 1 tsp finely grated ginger; Soy glaze; 60 ml (¼ cup) light soy sauce; 2 tbsp mirin; 2 tbsp honey

Yakiton is Japanese grilled pork, cooked over coals in a similar fashion to yakitori. A coal barbecue will give you the best results, but you can also grill the skewers on a hot plate. If you’re feeding a crowd just double or triple the recipe. The pickles can be made a day ahead.

Ingredients

300 gm pork belly, cut into 3cm x 1cm strips

To serve: shichimi togarashi (see note) and toasted sesame seeds

Pickles

1 telegraph cucumber, thickly sliced

200 gm daikon, thinly sliced

100 gm black fungi

½ tsp fine salt

250 ml (1 cup) brown rice vinegar

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp finely grated ginger

Soy glaze

60 ml (¼ cup) light soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp honey

Method

Main

1.Bring a charcoal barbecue to high heat. For pickles, combine cucumber, daikon and fungi in a bowl. Bring remaining ingredients and 60ml water to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, then pour onto vegetables and set aside over ice to chill and pickle while you make yakiton. Pickles will keep well refrigerated for up to 3 days.

2.For soy glaze, combine ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

3.Thread 2-3 pieces of pork onto each of 12 skewers. Brush with glaze, then grill, turning and brushing occasionally, until golden brown and cooked medium (2-4 minutes). Sprinkled with shichimi togarashi and serve with pickles.