Skinnymixer’s Japanese Yakiniku Pork Belly Skewers features in the Chef Specials section of the cookbook SkinnyAsia 2.

Sticky, caramelised pork belly with crispy edges and a sweet and savoury Japanese-style BBQ sauce… this one is worth planning ahead for.

Our Japanese Yakiniku Pork Belly is marinated for at least 6 hours in a homemade sauce packed with soy, ginger, garlic, sesame, apple and pear. The fruit adds natural sweetness to the marinade, while soy, oyster sauce and optional miso bring plenty of rich umami flavour.

Cook the pork belly on skewers or as individual bites in the air fryer, oven or BBQ. We’ve even included a slow cooker variation.

And because that yakiniku sauce is far too good to waste, half is reserved for dipping or you can freeze to use another time.

Methods: Thermo cooker + Conventional
Cooking options: Air Fryer, Oven, BBQ + Slow Cooker

What’s in the Yakiniku Marinade?

The complete recipe and quantities are in SkinnyAsia 2, but the marinade gets its big flavour from ingredients including:

Soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos
Fresh ginger
Garlic
Green apple
Nashi pear or pear
Toasted sesame seeds
Mirin – gluten-free if required. Replace with cooking sake or some rice wine vinegar + 1-2 tsp brown sugar.
Honey
Brown sugar or coconut sugar
Oyster sauce – gluten-free if required. You can also make your own Vegetarian Oyster Sauce.
Rice wine vinegar
Sesame oil
Optional white miso

The marinade is cooked down into a sticky sauce before being completely cooled and added to the pork.

Why Apple and Pear?

Fruit is often used in Korean and Japanese-style marinades to add sweetness and complement rich meats.

Here we use a combination of green apple and nashi pear or pear in the yakiniku-style sauce.

Once blended and cooked with the soy, ginger, garlic, sesame and other seasonings, they become part of the sticky sauce coating the pork.

How to Cook Yakiniku Pork Belly

You can thread the marinated pork belly onto soaked wooden skewers or cook it as individual bites.

Cook initially at 180°C until the pork is cooked and starting to caramelise, then increase the temperature to 200°C for the final few minutes.

That higher heat helps create those sticky, crispy, caramelised edges.

If making skewers, try adding pieces of spring onion, king oyster mushroom or leek between the pork.

You can also grill the skewers on the BBQ over a lower heat.

Can I Make it in the Slow Cooker?

Yes.

Skip the skewers and brown the pork belly bites first until lightly caramelised.

Transfer them to the slow cooker with the marinade and cook on low for 6–8 hours.

Before serving, toss the cooked pork belly through some of that reserved dipping sauce for an extra hit of flavour.

Dietary & Recipe Variations

LOW CARB
We’ve included adjustments to the fruit, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, honey and oyster sauce to reduce the carbohydrates while keeping plenty of flavour.

SUPER SKINNY
Replace the pork belly with lean pork fillet or chicken and adjust the cooking time as required.

PALEO
Use apple cider vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar, apple juice instead of mirin and one of the suggested compliant oyster sauce alternatives.

VEGETARIAN
Replace the pork with extra-firm tofu and sliced king oyster mushrooms and use vegetarian oyster sauce.

LOW FODMAP
We’ve included swaps for the garlic, fruit, honey and sauces to make the recipe easier to adapt.

HALVED / DOUBLED
The recipe can be halved or doubled, with adjusted marinade cooking times included in SkinnyAsia 2.

What to Serve with Japanese Yakiniku Pork Belly

Turn these sticky pork belly bites into a Japanese-inspired meal with some of the other recipes from SkinnyAsia 2.

We love serving them with:

Japanese Potato Salad
Crunchy Asian Rice Salad
Crispy Noodle Wombok Salad
A simple fresh salad with our Sesame Dressing

Or pile the skewers onto a platter with the reserved yakiniku sauce and serve them as part of a spread for entertaining.

Get the Recipe

The complete Japanese Yakiniku Pork Belly recipe, including homemade yakiniku marinade, Thermo cooker and conventional methods, air fryer, oven, BBQ and slow cooker options and dietary variations, is available in SkinnyAsia 2.

From the Testing Team

Angie G. – OMG these taste amazing !! Yum yum Marinated the pork belly meat for 6 hrs. Ended up with 8 skewers. Cooked to perfection in the airfryer within recipe times & temp. Second cook only 5 min. The marinade cooked well in tm6, good consistency and tasted amazing. I ended up with 260g so used 130g to marinade the meat with and the other half for dipping sauce. Served the skewers with Japanese Potato Salad and Crispy Noodle Wombok Salad. Perfect combo !!
Paula M. – Yum, so good. The pork belly was soooo tender, no idea if it was the marinade or the quality of pork belly but I was expecting it to be a bit chewy but it totally wasn’t! Can’t wait to make this with other proteins
Sacha P. – Cooked in the oven as the skewer things would fit in the air fryer. Loved the dipping sauce. The pork was nice, tender, tasted great.
Kaz M. – I air-fried and I’m not sad about it! Used the Ninja Crispi. First cook on Roast mode and second cook on Airfry, both cooks, turned half way. Absolutely DELICIOUS!
Veronica B. – Wow yum!!! I cooked these in oven, my air-fryer wouldn’t fit them all, Cooked 180* for 15mins flipping halfway. Increase temp to 200* cooked 16mins flipping halfway. Reheated Dipping Sauce in microwave 30sec x 2. DELICIOUS
Alisha D. – Loved every single bite
Lisa S. – OMG YUM! Done in the air fryer but had to go rogue as I can’t find GF mirin so swapped to cooking sake. Soooooo delicious!
Betty W. – Low Sodium – I used one portion marinade as is, no low sodium alterations (choosing the coconut aminos option instead of soy) but to double the protein. I skipped the optional miso to keep sodium lower and didn’t marinate the pork at all. I chose to brush the marinade on before cooking in a thin layer which keeps sodium levels lower. This worked great for us. Cooked over two air fryers – time and temp were perfect but I needed 10 mins in the last cook (also flipped during that last cook too so it could char on both sides.). Skewered with Shitake mushrooms and spring onions. Enjoyed by all.
Amanda E. – I totally stuffed up and forgot the pork was meant to marinate for a few hours. So I improvised!! I cooked the pork belly in the AF. Then when it was all done and crispy, I chucked in a bowl with the marinade/sauce and then popped back in the AF. It was delish!!!

Some other Thermomix Marinade recipes you might love:

Want to know more about SkinnyAsia 2 cookbook?

SkinnyAsia 2 is a collection of Thermomix & Conventional cooking recipes. All of our cookbooks have a strong focus on Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Egg Free, Low Carb, Paleo, Vegetarian and Low FODMAP.