Rafute
Japan · East Asia
Rafute is made from skin-on pork belly cut into thick pieces. The pork is first boiled, then slowly simmered with bonito stock, awamori, soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar. Awamori is Okinawan rice spirit; together with the bonito broth and retained skin, it contributes to the dish’s distinction from other Japanese braised pork preparations.[1]
The dish was part of the cuisine of the Ryukyu royal court and is associated with Chinese cooking transmitted through trade, with Dongpo pork described as a predecessor. Rafute is prepared for New Year and other special celebrations in Okinawa.[1]
References
Sources checked:
- Rediscovering Regional Cuisine12: Rafute, Okinawa — Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
image credit
- creator:
- David Iwaoka
- source:
- Wikimedia Commons
- license:
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- modified:
- Copied from a Wikimedia Commons thumbnail and re-encoded for Gochizu.
audio credit
- voice:
- marin (gpt-4o-mini-tts)
- source:
- OpenAI API Text to Speech
- license:
- OpenAI API generated audio
- modified:
- AI-generated voice audio.