Buta don (A bowl of rice topped with teriyaki pork, 豚丼)

Buta means pig in Japanese. Don means a bowl of rice. This dish gives you a lot of energy. It has a tender texture and a sweet soy sauce flavor. Teriyaki is a cooking technique in Japan. Food is normally grilled with a glaze of soy sauce, sugar and mirin. You can use this cooking technique for not only pork, but also chicken and beef.

Ingredients (2 bowls):

• 300g (0.7 LBS) of pork shoulder roast
• 1 onion
• a half bag (170g, 6oz) of lettuce or salad mix
• 1 green onion
• 1 teaspoon of grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon of grated garlic
• 1 teaspoon of white sesame
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil or sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of *Sake
• 1 tablespoon of *Mirin
• Rice for 2 people.

*Sake is an alcoholic Japanese rice wine which is made by fermenting rice.
*Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine with a lower alcohol percentage, and sweeter than Sake. -> See picture A and B.

Here is how to make it at home. Cooking time is about 20- 30 minutes.

1. Cook the rice, cut the pork shoulder roast into bite size chunks and slice the onion. Chop the green onion into small pieces.
2. Heat grated ginger, grated garlic, soy sauce, sugar, *Sake, and *Mirin in a small pot with low heat until the sugar melts. Remove from heat.
3. Preheat the vegetable oil or the sesame oil in a frying pan with medium heat. Stir the pork shoulder roast and the onion until the pork and the onion are little brown.
4. Add 2. sauce into the frying pan, cover a lid and simmer about 5 minutes. Flip over the pork and simmer without the lid about 5 more minutes or until the sauce is shiny and thick. Remove from heat.
5. Put the rice, the lettuce or salad mix, the pork, the onion and the sauce into a bowl. Add the green onion and the white sesame on top.