Ah~ Finally, the Bay Area is cooling down. I like it! I can finally bust out all my winter fashion and enjoy the cold weather's charm and fun. Some reason, cold weather makes me think of Korean BBQ and/or apple cider. Strange combination... but both majorly delicious. So neglecting to do a hardcore study session for my 2nd microbio exam (which no doubly, I bombed), I decided to do hardcore research into some yummy recipes I can try my hands on (reason for exam failure is because of that).
Do not overlook where you may find an interesting recipe. This month of October, I suddenly fell into a Korean BBQ type of mood. But thinking about Korean food makes me think of all the prep work involved, and that deters me from cooking Korean dishes. Strangely enough during work, I had a small down time and decided to kill it with browsing through some newly delivered magazines before I place them into the waiting room (I work in a doctor's office). I came across a copy of Men's Health (the manly version of Cosmo?), seeing Joseph Gorden-Lovett's smiling cuteness gracing the covers, I decided to flip through. About to give up from all the overload of testosterone-filled-machismo-handsomeness, I managed to flip to a small article about cooking. Closer inspection, it was about cooking Korean food. Much closer inspection, it was about cooking spicy pork (Jeyeuk Bokkum)! Bonus, it was pork belly meat! Being that it is a magazine tailored towards men, it only means that everything was spelled out simply... EASY TO DO! No fuss, No mess. (I'm sorry, I can't seem to find the recipe on Men's Health website. I only have it via hardcopy from the October 2013 issue if you are interested.)
My recipe is adapted and unaltered from that particular issue, therefore I will credit to whom they credited: chef Hooni Kim of Hanjan restaurant in NYC. Only thing I did was double the quality (cuz I cook for a squadron of people, but if you are making for less people or like sensible sizes, just cut the amount by half) and added greeneries (I added zucchini and lettuce... because it was just sitting there in the veggie bin at home, beckoning to be cooked). This is pork belly meat... yes that means bacon. Don't want to forfeit your precious pork belly meat? Buy the pork belly at a good butcher shop, and try to ask for a leaner cut with less fat on it, or you can trim the excess at home yourself. There is a momentary need to wait overnight before eating this dish because of the marinating process. The wait will definitely be worth it. Now... Onward!!!!
Spicy pork belly, two ways: spring roll-style and traditional lettuce leaf wrap
Ingredients:
2lb pork belly slices (unsmoked, halved widthwise, and trimmed of excess fat)
1 large onion (halved, and sliced thinly)
6 tbsp Gochujang
6 tbsp soju (I used Jinro Chamisul. Japanese sake works too)
6 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Mirin
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sugar (regular white granulated is fine)
5 - 6 cloves garlic (finely minced)
1 nub ginger (about more or less the length of your thumb, finely minced)
3 - 4 zucchinis (halved widthwise, sliced lengthwise)
salt to taste
1 - 2 head of red leaf lettuce (Destalked into individual leaves, washed, and dried; optional)
1 package rice paper wrap (optional)
Cooked jasmine rice (optional)
How-To:
Night before...
- Prep everything, and then mix items #3 - #10 in a big mixing bowl.
- Add spicy mixture, pork belly slices, and sliced onions into a big gallon-size zip-top bag, squish around to evenly coat meat with spicy mixture, and allow to marinate overnight in refrigerator.
Next day...
- Prep your vegetables.
- Heat a large pan with a touch of sesame oil, and cook zucchini slices. Add a touch of salt. On a plate, transfer cooked zucchini and set aside.
- Using same pan, DO NOT ADD ADDITIONAL OIL (your pork belly will provide it), pan-fry in batches of the pork belly slices as you would bacon until throughly cooked. Do so with all or as much of the pork belly slices as you desire.
- Once done pan-frying pork belly slices, in same pan, add in the cooked zucchini and cooked pork belly. Toss to throughly mix both ingredients, so everything gets smothered in the spicy red sauce. Plate and serve!
Eat it wrapped in the lettuce leaf. As my uncle suggested, wrap the spicy pork in the lettuce leaf, and then wrap it in the rice paper/spring roll wrap... kind of like the Vietnamese fresh spring roll. To use spring roll rice paper wrap, just take a sheet and dunk it in some luke warm to hot water (careful, okay? It is hot water) until it is malleable. Or nix the lettuce leaf and just eat it with the rice paper wrap. Or 86 the wrap-gears and go old fashion with a big bowl of hot, fluffy cooked rice. Which ever way you choose to devour this dish, it will be delicious. Enjoy!
