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Japanese Sizzling Ginger Pork
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Japanese Sizzling Ginger Pork

Japanese food is one of my favorite Asian cuisines, and their ever popular Sizzling Ginger Pork (Shogayaki) dish, going on the back of the famous Japanese pork cutlet (Tonkatsu), is one of my special favorites due to its simple to prepare recipe. Besides making a quick and delicious mains, it is also great for lunch boxes.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

  • 300 g peeled pork belly
  • 20 g ginger
  • 40 ml Japanese sake
  • 40 ml mirin. Mirin is a Japanese liqueur with as much as 40-50% sugar and is now mostly used for cooking.
  • 20 g sugar
  • 40 g Japanese soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons grape seed oil
  • 4 cabbage leaves
  • 4 cherry tomatoes

Instructions

  • You will need to cut the piece of pork belly into about 3mm thick slices. Pork fat is quite flexible and can be difficult to cut, so it’s a good idea to freeze the pork for about 12 hours, thaw in the microwave for one minute and slice it while it is still hard. In general, the larger the piece, the more difficult it is to cut; 10 cm is probably the maximum you could handle with your ordinary kitchen knives. Of course, people are not machines, so if you end up with slightly thicker slices, it won’t affect the outcome; it will be just as delicious.
  • The pork slices should be thoroughly thawed to room temperature before you marinate them, so set them aside while you prepare the vegetables to serve with the cooked pork.Wash the cabbage leaves, slice very finely, and dip them in ice water. Drain and put aside. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half.Then prepare the marinade, take a bowl, and finely grate the peeled ginger into it. You can use a cheese grater or a dedicated ginger grater.
  • To the ginger, add the Japanese sake, mirin, sugar, and soy sauce, and stir well to combine.
  • Put the fully thawed pork strips into the large bowl of marinade and mix with your hands to coat the meat thoroughly.Mix gently by placing your hand right at the bottom of the bowl under the meat and let the pieces fall back into the marinade. Do not force stirring, or the strips will become tangled and won’t absorb the marinade properly. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, remove the pieces of meat and strain the excess marinade off through a strainer. Let the strainer stand over the bowl for 10 minutes or so, to completely drain.This step is very crucial, and should not be omitted. If the pork is too wet, it will lower the temperature of the pan and will stew rather than fry.
  • While the pork is draining, dry fry the white sesame seeds in a small pot on medium. Although these sesame seeds are mostly for decoration, you will be glad you made the effort for this step as fried sesame seeds taste so much better than raw ones.
  • After the pork has drained, take a flat bottomed 24 cm diameter non-stick pan, and preheat it for 90 seconds. Put the meat into the pan, and quickly stir and separate the pork strips with chopsticks so that they cook evenly. Because the pan is fully warmed up, and the excess liquid is drained from the meat, the sautéed pieces should not ooze much liquid.
  • Continue to stir until the meat changes color and begins to curl. Curling occurs due to the muscle fibers shrinking when they are heated.
  • Take the fried meat out of the pan and pour the remaining marinade in. Cook the marinade liquid until it bubbles and reduces to make the sauce.
  • Put the fried pork back into the pan, and quickly stir fry until the juices reduce and concentrate, coating the meat. At this point, our Japanese Sizzling Ginger Pork is done. Toss some sesame seeds over the top for decoration and serve immediately with Japanese rice, crispy cabbage salad, and cherry tomatoes.