Ginger-Flavored Pan-Fried Pork

25Feb08

This will become a weeknight stand-by recipe. Ms. Shimbo notes its versatility: flavors can be varied by adding garlic, mirin, seven-spice powder, mustard paste, toban jiang to the marinade. Because the pork is sliced very thin, the marinade time is only 2 minutes and the meat cooks in a flash. The bean sprouts and scallions are stir-fried quickly in a wok. The rice and miso soup took longer to cook!

Ginger-Flavored Pan-Fried Pork

Buta no Shogayaki
serves 3
page 442
The Marinade:

• 9 ounces pork loin, sliced very thin
• 2 Tablespoons shoyu
• 2 teaspoons ginger juice

In a medium bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Add the pork, making sure the marinade covers both sides of each slice. Marinate for 2 minutes. The soy sauce will make the meat too salty and tough if it sits longer. Remove the pork from the marinade. Discard marinade.

• Note: to extract ginger juice, I use a fine microplane to grate the ginger onto a small piece of plastic wrap. Then I twist the plastic into a small pouch and smoosh the ginger. Poke a tiny hole in the pouch and carefully squirt the juice out. You can just squeeze the grated ginger in your fingers, but the plastic helps keep the fibers out and lets you measure how much juice you have. Depending on how fresh your ginger is, 2 Tablespoons of grated ginger makes 1 to 2 teaspoons of juice.

The Vegetables:

• 2 cups of bean sprouts (I used soy bean sprouts, but any sort would work)
• 7 ounces green onions, cut into 2″ pieces (or Chinese chives)

Cooking the Veg:

• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon water

Heat a wok and add the sesame oil. When the oil is hot, add the bean sprouts and water. Stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute. (Mung bean sprouts or other more delicate sprouts will require less cooking.) Add the onions and stir-fry for another half minute.

Cooking the Pork:

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, or less
• Water to deglaze the pan

To a hot skillet, add 1/2 Tablespoon vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, pan-fry a batch of pork slices in a single layer, turning once, until browned. Depending on how thin your slices are, this could take only 1 minute! Remove to a warm plate and fry another batch. I deglazed the skillet and cooked the liquid down to pour over the meat.

Serve the pork alongside the vegetables with plain rice on the side.

I made a light miso soup with wakame and toasted mochi. I toasted the rice cakes, but put them too close together. They puffed up and joined together; when I pulled them apart I exposed their hollow interiors. Of course the soup rushed in and melted the mochi so it lost any crunch I’d hoped for.

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Filed under: Grilling and Pan-Frying, Japanese Food, Pork, Yakimono   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: bean sprouts, ginger, Japanese Cooking