Tender, Thin-Sliced Pork with Ginger

Hello everyone and welcome back this week for my first recipe translation!

I figured that this time, I would include a recipe that would be simple to make, and a popular dinner item for many ALTs that I know personally. That’s right, baby! This week, we’re starting off with some shogayaki, or ginger pork. I thought this recipe was interesting, because you actually tenderize the meat by marinating it in yogurt, much the same as you would in many Indian recipes.

This recipe uses ingredients that are easily available at the grocery store and are likely already in your cupboard. All the better, it takes very little time to prepare (sans the marinating time). I’ve posted a link to the original recipe below, so please give it a try and let me know if you have any notes on the recipe itself or on the translation!

Recipe Here

Tender, Thin-Sliced Pork with Ginger

by Sachiko Seo

Serves 2

Calories – 380 (per serving)

Sodium – 2.8 grams (per serving)

Prep Time – 10 minutes (excluding time spent marinating pork)

Ingredients:

For pork:

• Thin-sliced pork – 200 grams
• Plain yogurt (no added sugar) – 2 tablespoons
• Ginger – 1 knob
• Cabbage (shredded) – as much as you like

For sauce:

Sake – 3 tablespoons

• Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
• Potato starch – 1/2 teaspoon
• Japanese chili powder (ichimi-togarashi) or Japanese seven-spice (shichimi-togarashi) – to taste

Also:

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Mayonnaise (for cabbage)

Advance Preparation:

Yogurt marinade

Aim to add one tablespoon of plain, sugar-free yogurt to every 100 grams of pork. Set in the fridge overnight (or around 6 hours). If the yogurt becomes warm, it will dry out and not impart flavor to the pork.

Tip: Try to use fresh yogurt.

Preparation:

• Step 1: Refer to Advance Preparation for thin-sliced pork. Lightly rinse cabbage and set in a strainer to drain well. Mix sauce ingredients.
• Step 2: Add an adequate amount of vegetable oil to a frying pan set over medium heat. Add the marinated pork to the pan, gently seperating the strands of meat.

*Tip: The yogurt will become smooth when added to the heat, so it’s okay to add the meat without removing the yogurt.

• Step 3: Grate ginger with the skin on over the pan. Once the the pork has taken on a golden brown color, flip the meat, adjusting the heat as necessary. Once the pork is cooked through, turn up the heat and add sauce to the pan and simmer until it forms a glaze.

*Tip: Make sure to grate the fragrant skin-on ginger evenly over the pan. The sauce, thickened with potato starch, should easily coat the pork. It will not taste of yogurt and will go well with rice.

Step 4: Add a generous amount of shredded cabbage to a plate and add mayonnaise to the top. Once finished, add pork along with the thickened sauce to the top of the cabbage. Season with chili pepper or seven spice to taste.

*Note: This will keep in the fridge for 3 days.