Ginger Pork

One of my favorite things to eat now one of my favorite dishes to make. If you are ever traveling to Japan and end up at a Japanese diner, feel free to ask for "shogayaki". This dish is extremely comforting and filling. It goes great with a hot bowl of steamy white rice which is what I needed when I worked at an Izakaya. This was a meal that filled me up quick to get me through a nights service or something to fill my empty stomach after a night of hard work.

Recipe is extremely simple. The only real trick is how much grated ginger to put. I love a lot of ginger where it's prominent, but I know a lot of it can scare of people.

Regardless, this is how I made it.

• 1.5 pounds of pork (recommend thin sliced pork belly or thin sliced pork butt).
• 1 medium onion sliced (I used yellow)
• 1/2 of a cabbage, thinly sliced.
• Kewpie mayonnaise (optional, but imperative for me)
• 4 tablespoons Mirin
• 2 tablespoons Kikkoman soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger

The onions are slightly sweated on medium high before putting in the pork belly. The pork belly is seasoned ever so lightly with salt and pepper. Once the pork is cooked through before browning, pour in the ginger sauce and mix the ingredients until coated.

Grab a bowl and scoop some hot white rice, topped with the raw cabbage slices, then the hot ginger pork. Drizzle with Kewpie mayonnaise and a dash of sesame seeds.

View fullsize

Pork Chop Agrodolce

My memories of eating pork chops are always those crispy fat edges and the leftover bone everyone eyes on. Pork chops are pretty inexpensive, so my parents would purchase them quite often. Just sprinkle with Lawry's garlic parsley salt with a dash of white pepper and we are good to go.

I'm going to share with you a recipe that's extremely simple, but will be a crowd pleaser (always important) at any dinner event. Pork Chop Agrodolce is just, pork chop for one, covered in a sweet and sour sauce. I feel like every cuisine has their own versions of a sweet and sour dish. This Italian version is one of my favorites at the moment. I am excited for it and hope you will be able to enjoy this in the near future.

Ingredients

• 3 Pork Chops - mine were around 1 inch.
• Lawry's garlic parsley salt for seasoning
• black pepper
• olive oil

Algrodolce Sauce

• 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of honey (adjust to 2 if preferred)
• 2 smashed garlic cloves

Heat your pan to medium high with olive oil. Season the pork on both sides with Lawry's garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper as you would season your meat. I am a little generous with the garlic salt.. it's my favorite.

View fullsize

Let it be for a good 4-5 minutes or so to let it get crusty. Again, this really depends on how thick your chops are.

View fullsize

Let it go for another 5 minutes. Add more olive oil if needed, you want to make sure both sides have browned beautifully. Removed your chops and set it to the side.

Grab a towel to dab the fat off your pan. Pour in the vinegar, honey and garlic and deglaze the pan with a wooden spatula. Make sure to get all the bits! When it starts to simmer, I added my pork chops back in and flipped them around until coated.

View fullsize

There are many ways to make this. I made this with the ingredients I had at home and it still worked out (tasted) wonderfully. Some parts of the pork may appear "pink" but pork has natural tints in some sections, and no matter how you cook it the tint will always be there. If unsure before you eat them, just stick a thermometer. USDA guidelines says cook till 145 with a 3 minute rest.

Enjoy!