Sweet Pork Butt Roast (Yakibuta)

To tell the truth, before I moved to Louisiana I was a horrible cook. I still recall the many times that I was feeling desperate of my cooking skills and my food.

When I was in Japan, I lived with my family. So I had hardly cooked for myself or somebody else. There was always someone who could prepare something nice for me to eat. However, after I moved to New York City and lived alone, I realized that I had to learn cooking. My family is gourmet and great cooks. So I used to the delicious and healthy homemade cooking, which made me picky of what to eat. Therefore, taking out junky food or purchasing frozen food was unacceptable. Buying fresh and healthy vegetables, meat and fishes and cooking for myself was the only option I could think of keeping myself on healthy eating habits.

Unfortunately, my very busy life in New York City (just think of “Sex and the City” to get an idea of what I mean) prevented me from spending time to learn how to cook. As a result, I had cried so many times alone about my awful food.

After I moved to Louisiana, I have more time to cook for my family, friends and myself. Their compliments and suggestions about my food encouraged me and improved my cooking skills tremendously. Actually, beyond my wildest dreams!

This sweet pork butt roast is one of the dishes I learned after I moved to Louisiana. It is very easy to prepare and delicious. I am wondering why I had never tried to cook this while I was in NYC. Maybe cooking healthy and tasty food is not that difficult or time consuming after all. It may be a matter of attitude towards how serious you are about what you eat and how to prepare.

Ingredients (for 4-5 servings):
2.5 lb pork shoulder / butt roast
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of sake (rice wine) or white wine
1 teaspoon of freshly ground ginger

Optional: 1 clove of sliced garlic

Directions:
1. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sake, oyster sauce, ginger and garlic (optional) in a large bowl. Mix them well.
2. Cut the pork butt roast half if it is a big piece. Place the meat in the bowl and marinate the meat with the mixture overnight to three days in the refrigerator (I recommend you to marinate for three days. So that the meat becomes tender and tasty).
3. Preheat the oven to 370 F degrees. Place the pork butt roast along with the mixture on the oven pan and bake it for 30 to 40 minutes until the meat is cooked.

4. Slice the meat and transfer to serving plates. Pour the sauce from the oven pan.