Prime rib is great, but it’s nice to have something else to offer at the carving station of your Sunday brunch buffet.

Chef Mariano Lalica of the Oceanarium Restaurant at the Pacific Beach Hotel considered the matter and came up with … pork belly. Not Chinese, not Filipino, but Korean.

Lalica’s pork belly glazed with a kalbi-style sauce hit the carving station about a year ago. To great success, going by Judy Matoba’s testimonial: “A bunch of us ladies who brunch have become addicted to the glazed pork belly,” she wrote.

But alas, the Oceanarium is to close in September as the hotel undergoes renovations.

Matoba is bereft about the loss of that pork belly. “I am panicking at the thought of not being able to indulge in it after they close. Could you please try and coax them to share their recipe?”

Lalica responded quickly.

The dish is actually a mash-up of Korean, Thai and Chinese flavors, with Japanese mirin thrown in for good measure.

The chef said the key is to allow two days — the first is for a long braise in a flavorful broth, the second for roasting.

In between, the meat and the cooking broth chill in the refrigerator in separate containers. This separation is important. The meat dries slightly and forms a crust, Lalica said, and the broth separates so that you can skim off the fat.

“I think this is where everyone tries to rush,” he said. “They try to do it all in one day.”

The process “relaxes the meat, and when you reheat it, it becomes nice and tender.”

Lalica follows a similar procedure with osso bucco and roast lamb, and your mom may have followed it with beef stew. “It’s about the same philosophy as stew,” he said. “It tastes better the next day. The flavors really sink in.”

The Oceanarium is not reopening. Its space, around the three-story indoor aquarium, will become a lobby and lounge, Lalica said. He will preside over a transition to a new breakfast and brunch restaurant on the hotel’s second floor (now occupied by the Neptune). Chef Masaharu Morimoto will open two new restaurants — fine dining and a beer garden/ramen shop — in the renovated hotel.

So, pork belly lovers, this dish might not return. You’ve got a few more weeks to catch it at the Oceanarium — or learn to make it yourself.

I gave the recipe a spin, and despite all the grating and chopping, it was not hard to do. And it was great. Seriously great. The braise-rest-roast process turns that lovely layer of pork belly fat into a chewy yet tender band of deliciousness that was not at all greasy.

Serve it chopped over rice or sliced in bao buns, with extra sauce on the side. Deliver it to a potluck and you will be a hero.

Kalbi-Glazed Pork Belly

• 5 pounds pork belly
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice cooking wine)
• 1 small onion, finely grated
• 1 small Asian pear, peeled and finely grated (or substitute a sweet apple)
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 1/4 cup minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 green onions, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Place pork belly fat side up in a large pot or pan.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork belly. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 2-1/2 hours, or until pork belly is soft.

Carefully remove meat from liquid and place in single layer in pan. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.

Strain cooking broth into a separate container; cover and refrigerate.

The next day, remove fat from cooking liquid. Pour into saucepan and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened (reducing to a very syrupy sauce will take about an hour).

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove meat from refrigerator and place in roasting pan. Brush with sauce and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, brushing with sauce every 10 minutes, until heated through and dark golden brown.

Let rest a few minutes, then slice. Serve with extra sauce. Serves 12.

Approximate nutritional information: 1,050 calories, 93 g fat, 34 g saturated fat, 135 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,100 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 23 g sugar, 20 g protein

Write “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com. Nutritonal analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S