As the weather descends into winter (which it’s doing unapologetically- this weekend was miserable) and the food typically gets heavier, what with the produce aisle filled with roots and tubers, I find that spiciness brightens up a heavy dish of just about anything. Yes, I love a stew and a braise as much as the next self-proclaimed food obsessive, but I often find myself gravitating toward Asian food for winter comfort.
I tasted Korean food for the first time about five years ago, and fell deeply, madly in love with it on the spot. It was my first year or so in investment banking, during which I routinely left my apartment at 8am and returned 18 hours later, or not at all. I was, understandably, miserable. But I do have some fond memories of that time tucked away, and one is a group of about fifteen of us, from very junior to very senior, pooling together our firm’s dinner allowance and ordering a Korean feast.
I can vividly remember sitting around a giant conference table looking at dozens of containers each filled with some spicy, funky, fishy or downright smelly pickle. I can still see our staffer, as Caucasian as they come, devouring rice sticks drenched in an menacing red sauce, undeterred even as his face began to match the color of the dish and sweat formed at his hairline. I don’t miss the way the rest of my life looked like at that time, but I do get nostalgic for sharing a meal like that with friends.
I’ve opportunistically acquired some of the necessary ingredients for making Korean food at home, mostly with the help of Amazon Prime, but it’s been more difficult to find good recipes. This stir-fry is probably not the most authentic Korean dish you’ll find, but it contains gochugaru and gochujang (chili flakes and chili bean paste) so it has that very particular Korean spiciness. It’s delicious and uncomplicated, tender, pungent and fresh.
There’s a good chance that the long winter ahead will see me delving into fermenting some truly sinister-smelling kimchi at home. But in the meantime, this cozy, spicy stir-fry is keeping me warm and nostalgic in a way only Korean food can.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon soju, sake, vodka or water
- 2 tablespoons gochujang (red pepper paste)
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru (red pepper powder)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely minced yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
- 1 pound pork loin, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 carrot, cut into strips
- 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps cut into 1/3-inch-wide slices
- 1 fresh long red chile pepper, seeded and finely slivered
- 1 small handful snow peas, halved lengthwise
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Instructions
- Whisk together the soy sauce, soju, gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, scallions, onion, garlic and ginger in a large bowl. Add the pork and stir to coat. Cover and let the pork marinate at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the pork with all of its marinade. Cook, stirring now and then, until beginning to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Add the carrot, shiitakes, chile pepper and snap peas and another drop or two of oil if anything is stick to the pan. Continue to stir and cook until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2014/11/04/korean-style-pork-stir-fry/
