Steps

1. Make the seasoning sauce. In a bowl, combine 100ml water, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp dashi granules. Mix well.
   🕒 00:47
2. Make the meat filling. In a zip-top bag, add 100g ground pork, 1 tsp cooking sake, 1 tsp potato starch, and a pinch of salt. Close the bag and knead to combine.
   🕒 00:58
3. Prepare the shiso leaves. Remove the stems from the 5 shiso leaves and finely chop them.
   🕒 01:12
4. Add the chopped shiso to the meat filling in the zip-top bag and mix.
   🕒 01:20
5. Cut the atsuage. Make incisions on the long side of the 4 pieces of atsuage to create pockets for the meat filling.
   🕒 01:41
6. Cut off a corner of the zip-top bag with the meat filling.
   🕒 01:52
7. Open the incisions in the atsuage and squeeze in the meat filling. Use chopsticks to push the filling in neatly.
   🕒 01:56
8. Coat the side with the meat filling with potato starch. Coating with potato starch helps to seal in the juices for a delicious result.
   🕒 02:13
9. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
   🕒 02:23
10. Place the atsuage, meat-filled side down, into the hot frying pan and sear until golden brown on the bottom.
    🕒 02:31
11. Flip the atsuage over and sear the other side.
    🕒 02:43
12. Remix the prepared seasoning sauce and pour it into the frying pan.
    🕒 02:51
13. Cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 3 minutes. Simmering after adding the sauce will allow the flavors to meld and ensure the filling is cooked through.
    🕒 02:55
14. After 3 minutes, flip the atsuage.
    🕒 03:06
15. Cover again and simmer over low-medium heat for another 3 minutes.
    🕒 03:12
16. After a total of 6 minutes of simmering, increase the heat to medium-high and reduce the sauce until only a little remains. Reducing the sauce will intensify the flavor and coat the atsuage nicely.
    🕒 03:23
17. Cut into bite-sized pieces and arrange on a plate.
    🕒 03:48
18. Drizzle any remaining sauce from the pan over the atsuage.
    🕒 04:01