Pepper Pork

May 20, 2021 Corinn Blackwell

Tender pork and crisp peppers in a rich savory sauce.

Pepper Pork

Serves 4

Savory pork in a saucy broth best served over rice or noodles. In Korean this would be considered a deopbap (over rice) dish.

Recipe Tips: 1. The pork neck meat can be substituted with pork shoulder steaks or pork tenderloin. If using pork tenderloin, omit the baking soda in the marinade. 2. During the summer, grilling the pork and peppers then tossing with the sauce is delicious. To grill, cut the pork into 0.25 in steaks and marinate. Toss the chilis in 2 t vegetable oil and grill for 60-90 seconds or until charred. Remove to a platter and set aside. Grill the pork 6 – 8 minutes or until cooked through turning often and place on the platter with the peppers. To make the sauce, saute the onions, garlic and ginger in 2 t of vegetable oil until softened. Add the sauce ingredients reducing the water to 1 c and cook until thickened. Slice the pork into bite-sized pieces. Add the pork, chilis and any accumulated juices to the sauce and simmer for 1 minute. Serve over rice, noodles or as a taco filling.

Ingredients

Marinade

570g (1.25 lb) pork neck, cut into 1/8 in thick slices

1 T mirin or Shaoxing wine

4 t soy sauce

1.5 t cornstarch

1 t Worcestershire sauce

.25 t ground white pepper

.25 t kosher salt

1/8 t baking soda - optional

Sauce

250ml (1.25 c) water

50ml (.25 c) soy sauce

1 T honey or sugar

5 t cornstarch

4 t oyster sauce

4 t vinegar (rice or apple)

2 t sesame oil

1 t dashida or powdered chicken bullion

1 t gochugaru or ground Sichuan pepper

.25 t ground cumin

.25 t ground white pepper

.25 t kosher salt

Stir Fry

1 T vegetable oil

300g (a little less than .75 lb) shishito peppers, stems pulled off and each pricked with a fork 2-3 times

300g (1 large) onion, sliced .25 in thick with the grain

6 garlic cloves, sliced

5g (1 t) ginger, minced

Recipe Know-how

Marinate

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine pork with marinade ingredients. Mix until the meat has absorbed all of the liquid.

Allow to marinate at least 1 hour and up to 6.

Sauce

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients, mixing well. Set aside.

Stir-Fry

3. Heat a large saute pan or wok on medium high heat.

Add the vegetable oil and heat until shimmering
Working in batches if necessary, brown pork slices on both sides. Remove from pan.
If necessary, add 1 t more oil. Add onion. Cook 2-3 minutes or until onions begin to soft.
Add ginger and garlic. Cook 30 seconds longer.
Add pork and any accumulated juices and sauce. Bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Add chilis. Simmer 2 minutes longer.

If you prefer the chilis to be softer rather than crisp, simmer 1-2 minutes longer.

4. Serve with rice or over noodles.