Chef Takumi
Braised Pork Belly (豚の角煮, Buta no Kakuni)
Kakuni looks like a long, stern dish. It isn't. Boil the pork first, simmer it slowly, and the belly turns tender, glossy, and clean-tasting.
Culinary Explorer
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Jibuni (治部煮, Kaga-style simmered poultry)
Created by
Kanazawa's famous simmered dish is simpler than it looks: good poultry, clear dashi, a light dusting of flour, and wasabi added only at the end.
Main Dishes
Japanese
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Celebration
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Jibuni looks like a dish that belongs behind a sliding door in Kanazawa, handled by someone with a better knife and calmer sleeves than yours. Don't be fooled. The heart of it is plain: slices of duck, or chicken if that's what you can buy well, dusted with flour and simmered briefly in seasoned dashi.
That flour is the detail that decides the dish. It coats the meat, keeps the juices from fleeing into the broth, and gives the simmering liquid a soft thickness without turning it heavy. Stir too much and the coating rubs off. Boil too hard and the meat tightens. Keep the simmer quiet, the way we do it here, and the broth clings lightly to every piece.
Use duck breast when you can find it glistening fresh, with firm flesh and clean fat. Chicken thigh is a sensible stand-in, not the old Kaga expression, but it makes an honest home version when the sourcing is better. Sudare-fu, the ridged wheat gluten from Kanazawa, matters too: it drinks the broth and brings the dish back to its place.
And the wasabi waits. Never put it in the pot. Heat steals its fragrance and turns its clean bite dull, so set a small dab on the finished bowl and let each person stir it in at the table. Jibuni is celebration food, yes, but the first secret is restraint. Nothing hidden, nothing hurried.
Jibuni is a representative dish of Kaga ryōri, the cuisine of the old Kaga Domain centered on Kanazawa in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. Its name is often linked either to the gentle jibu-jibu sound of simmering or to Okabe Jibuemon, a figure said in local tradition to have brought a related method to the Maeda domain, though the sound theory is more widely repeated. The use of sudare-fu, a ridged wheat gluten specialty of Kanazawa, marks the dish as local rather than simply another simmered poultry dish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
konbu (dried kelp)
Quantity
1 piece (about 10g)
katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
Quantity
20g
cold water
Quantity
4 cups
duck breast or boneless chicken thighs
Quantity
400g
skin and excess sinew trimmed
all-purpose flour or potato starch
Quantity
3 tablespoons
for dusting
sudare-fu
Quantity
4 pieces
soaked if dried
fresh shiitake mushrooms
Quantity
8 small
stems trimmed
carrot
Quantity
1 small
cut into flower shapes or thin rounds
spinach or seri
Quantity
1 small bunch
trimmed
dashi
Quantity
2 1/2 cups
soy sauce
Quantity
3 tablespoons
mirin
Quantity
3 tablespoons
sake
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sea salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
plus more as needed
fresh wasabi
Quantity
to taste
grated just before serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| konbu (dried kelp) | 1 piece (about 10g) |
| katsuobushi (bonito flakes) | 20g |
| cold water | 4 cups |
| duck breast or boneless chicken thighsskin and excess sinew trimmed | 400g |
| all-purpose flour or potato starchfor dusting | 3 tablespoons |
| sudare-fusoaked if dried | 4 pieces |
| fresh shiitake mushroomsstems trimmed | 8 small |
| carrotcut into flower shapes or thin rounds | 1 small |
| spinach or seritrimmed | 1 small bunch |
| dashi | 2 1/2 cups |
| soy sauce | 3 tablespoons |
| mirin | 3 tablespoons |
| sake | 1 tablespoon |
| sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| sea saltplus more as needed | 1/4 teaspoon |
| fresh wasabigrated just before serving | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide shallow pot
- •Wooden drop-lid (otoshibuta), or a circle of parchment
- •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
- •Grater for fresh wasabi
Instructions
- 1
Make the dashi
Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu just before the water boils, when small bubbles climb the sides; boiling kelp makes the stock cloudy and faintly bitter. Add the katsuobushi, take the pot off the heat, and let the flakes sink for two or three minutes. Strain through cloth or a fine strainer and let it drip on its own. Don't squeeze, or the clear stock takes on a rough, oily taste.
You need only 2 1/2 cups for the dish, but making a little extra gives you room to adjust the broth without reaching for salt. - 2
Prepare the fu
If using dried sudare-fu, soak it in warm water until pliable, then press it gently between your palms to remove excess water. If using fresh nama-fu, slice it into four neat pieces. This step lets the fu drink the seasoned broth later instead of tasting watery in the bowl.
- 3
Blanch the greens
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, salt it lightly, and blanch the spinach or seri just until the color brightens. Rinse under cold water, squeeze gently, and cut into short lengths. The cold rinse fixes the color and keeps the greens from muddying the simmering broth.
- 4
Cut the poultry
Slice the duck or chicken across the grain into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Keep the pieces broad and even so they cook at the same pace. Dust them lightly with flour or potato starch, then pat off the excess. You want a thin coat, not armor; too much flour makes the broth pasty.
If using duck breast, leave a very thin layer of fat. It gives fragrance to the broth, but thick fat turns greasy before the meat is tender. - 5
Season the broth
In a wide shallow pot, combine 2 1/2 cups dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and salt. Bring it to a gentle simmer and taste. It should be balanced and a little stronger than a soup, because the poultry, fu, and vegetables will soften it as they cook.
- 6
Simmer the vegetables
Add the carrot, shiitake, and sudare-fu to the seasoned broth. Lay a wooden drop-lid, otoshibuta, directly on the surface, or use a circle of parchment with a small hole in the center. Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until the carrot is tender and the fu looks glossy. The drop-lid keeps everything just under the broth without rough stirring.
- 7
Cook the poultry
Slide the floured poultry slices into the quiet simmer one by one, keeping them separate. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, turning once, until chicken is cooked through or duck is just firm and still tender. Do not let the pot boil hard. The flour will thicken the broth softly, and a hard boil would tighten the meat and shake off the coating.
- 8
Finish the bowls
Add the blanched greens to the pot only long enough to warm them. Arrange each bowl with a few slices of poultry, one piece of fu, shiitake, carrot, and greens, building a little height and leaving space around the edges. Spoon over the glossy broth. Set a small dab of freshly grated wasabi on top or beside the meat, never in the pot, because heat dulls its fragrance.
Chef Tips
- •Duck breast is the old pleasure here, especially in cold weather when its fat is clean and sweet. If the duck looks tired, use good chicken thigh. Sourcing first, always.
- •Sudare-fu gives Jibuni its Kanazawa character. Nama-fu is the nearest useful stand-in, but ordinary bread-like wheat gluten will not drink the broth the same way.
- •Dust the meat just before it goes into the pot. If it sits too long, the coating turns gummy on the board instead of thickening the broth where you need it.
- •Wasabi belongs at the table. Stirred into the hot pot, it loses its clean nose and becomes only sharpness, which is a small tragedy and an avoidable one.
Advance Preparation
- •The dashi can be made one day ahead and kept refrigerated. Warm it gently before seasoning.
- •The greens can be blanched a few hours ahead, squeezed dry, and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •Cut the vegetables and soak the sudare-fu ahead, but dust and simmer the poultry just before serving so it stays tender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 335g)
Calories
340 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
23 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
26 g
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