Recipe & Images KATHY PATERSON
A Korean pork dish, usually pork shoulder, cooked in spices then thinly sliced. Traditionally paired with shucked oysters, steamed short-grain rice, kimchi, quick pickles, a ginger and spring onion sauce and lettuce leaves.
Cooking of the pork in this recipe is inspired by American chef David Chang and Australian chef Karen Martini and their interpretation.
Slow-Cooked Pork Shoulder
Begin this recipe the day before. This pork is delicious warm, but I think even better when cold as the flavour intensifies.
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 tbsp flaky sea salt, plus extra for crackling
2.3 – 2.5kg bone in pork shoulder, skin on
175ml rice wine vinegar
Combine the sugar and salt in a large ceramic ovenproof dish. Add the pork shoulder and rub all over with the sugar and salt mixture. Put in the fridge overnight — no need to cover.
The following day:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the pork from the dish leaving any remaining sugar and salt mixture on the meat. Discard remaining pan juices and wash out the dish. Return pork, skin-side-up, to the dish and pour over the vinegar. Cover with a lid or baking paper and foil and put in the oven. Cook for 2 hours, then uncover and cook for a further 1 hour.
Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper. Remove pork from the oven and lift off the skin and put on the prepared tray. Baste the pork with the cooking juices and return to the oven for a further 1 hour, basting with the juices twice. At this stage the meat should pull easily away from the bone. Leave the pork to rest. I prefer to leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Pour the cooking juices into a small pot. You can remove the fat from the surface if you wish.
Turn the oven up so it’s very hot. Rub a little extra salt over the pork skin then put in the oven for 10–15 minutes until crisp. Keep an eye on it.
To serve:
red or green butterhead lettuce leaves
slow-cooked pork pulled into shreds
meat juices to moisten, warmed
1 medium-sized cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
kimchi (we recommend Good Bugs Kick Ass Kimchi or their Ginger Ninja)
Korean fermented chilli sauce (recipe below)
coriander leaves
lime or lemon wedges
pork crackling, cut into small pieces
store-bought Chinese bao buns, steamed, optional
Fill the lettuce leaves with shredded pork drizzled with the warmed meat juices. Top with cucumber slices, kimchi, chilli sauce and coriander leaves. Drizzle with lime or lemon juice and top with crackling. Or fill into bao buns.
Have plenty of napkins for your hands.
Korean Fermented Chilli Sauce
Make up in small batches as this sauce is at its best freshly made.
Makes about ½ cup
¼ cup gochujang
1½ tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
4 cm piece fresh ginger
vegetable oil and water to thin
Combine the gochujang, miso paste, brown sugar, vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Finely grate the fresh ginger straight into the bowl. Mix well, adding a little vegetable oil and a splash or two of cold water to thin to a sauce consistency.
Use sauce straight away or keep well covered in the fridge for 2–3 days.
Did you know?
Gochujang is an essential ingredient in Korean cooking and is made from red chillies, glutinous rice and soybeans. Traditionally made at home but now available commercially, look for a tub of the hot pepper paste in Asian supermarkets or at your local supermarket. If they are not stocking it then chat to them about doing so.
Kathy Paterson is a recipe developer, food stylist and photographer. A plentiful herb garden and a trial and error vegetable garden give Kathy the starting place for her recipes along with her love of the classics with a modern twist.
www.kathypaterson.co.nz
