Braised Korean Pork Food

ASIAN BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Coat a large wide ovenproof pan or Dutch oven with olive oil and bring the pan to high heat. Sprinkle the pork with salt and brown it on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve.
• Ditch the fat from the pan and add a few drops of fresh oil. Toss in the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and rice vinegar and reduce by half. Add the 3 cups chicken stock, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sambal, star anise, orange zest and juice. Stir to combine, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Taste to make sure it is delicious and adjust the seasoning if needed.
• Return the pork to the pan, cover and put in the oven. Braise the pork for 2 hours, turning it over once. If the liquid reduces too much during the cooking process, add the remaining 1 cup chicken stock. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
• When the pork is VERY tender, remove the pan from the oven. Remove the pork, place the pan over medium heat, bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces to a sticky sauce consistency.
• Serve the pork draped with the sauce.

BRAISED PORK BELLY (红烧肉/HONG SHAO ROU/RED COOKED PORK)

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the ginger, scallion, and blanch the pork belly pieces over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• After five minutes, clean the pork under running water and keep them dry with cloth or kitchen towel. Reserve some blanching water and pass it through a wire mesh strainer.
• Heat the sugar and oil in a nonstick pan. When the sugar turns to amber color, add the dried pork pieces into it.
• Pan-fry the pork for two minutes until all the sides are sear and colored.
• Add the pork, soy sauce, ginger, scallion, wine, star anise, and blanching liquid enough to submerge all the pork pieces to a pot.
• Braise the pork over low heat with the lid on for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is soft and tender. Turn the heat to medium and boil it uncovered until the braising liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.
• Dish out and garnish with thinly sliced scallion. Serve.

KOREAN BRAISED SHORT RIBS (GALBI JJIM)

Steps:

• To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, fresh ginger, ground ginger, brown sugar, water, rice wine, pear, kiwi, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
• Fill a large stockpot with cold water. Soak the short ribs in the water for 30 minutes to 1 hour to pull out impurities. Drain. Score ribs by slicing shallow criss cross cuts across the meat.
• Fill the stockpot with clean water and bring to a boil. Simmer the short ribs in the water for 30 minutes. Drain. Return the simmered ribs to the pot; pour in the sauce, bring to a low boil. Simmer the ribs in the sauce for 60 minutes. Stir in the carrot, potatoes, green onions, yellow onion, chestnuts, and shiitake mushrooms. Simmer until vegetables are tender, at least 30 additional minutes.

BRAISED PIG'S TAIL RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse the pork tails, remove the hair, and cut them into smaller chunks.
• Add cold water and pig's tail to a large saucepan or pot. (Make sure the pig tails are submerged.)
• Bring to boil and drain the water. It'll take about 10 minutes. Rinse the pork tails to remove the foam and small particles.
• In a large pan over medium-heat, add oil, garlic, ginger and green onion. Stir fry for about 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add cooked pig tail chunks, star anises, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine to the pan.
• Add water to make sure the liquid covers the pork tail completely.
• Bring to boil, and then lower the heat.
• Cover the lid and simmer for about 1 hour until the pork tail has become completely tender.
• Remove the lid. Turn the heat to high, cook until the sauce has thickened. If you have a lot of liquid in the pan, it may take a while. You can add cornstarch slurry (mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and water). This will thicken the sauce much faster and make it sticky.
• Season with more salt if needed and serve immediately.

KOREAN-INSPIRED BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat the grapeseed oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Sear the short ribs until brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Reserve on a sheet tray.
• Add the Asian pear, lemongrass, ginger and scallions to the Dutch oven and cook for a few minutes. Add the gochujang and tomato paste and cook another minute or two to caramelize. Add the red wine, beef stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, orange zest and juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, sesame seeds and 2 cups water and bring to a simmer. Add the short ribs back, nestling them in so they are covered with liquid. Braise in the oven for 40 minutes.
• Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F and continue to cook until the short ribs are fork-tender, another 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
• Transfer the short ribs to a sheet tray and cover with foil to rest. Strain the cooking liquid, return to the Dutch oven and reduce over medium-high heat until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve the short ribs over the Sweet Potato Grits, with watercress and the sauce.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the sweet potatoes: Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, wrap in aluminum foil and cook until they feel soft all the way through when you gently squeeze them, about 40 minutes. Allow the sweet potatoes to cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh and mash lightly with a fork. Set aside.
• For the grits: Place 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepot and bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk in the grits. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes back up to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting, place a lid on top and let simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove the lid and give the grits a good stir to help them finish absorbing the water. Add the sweet potatoes and stir until well mixed. Fold in the butter and nutmeg. Stir again until smooth. Add the remaining salt. Serve hot.

BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Gather the dry rub ingredients and pork.
• In a small bowl, combine the salt, fennel seed, allspice, and black pepper until thoroughly mixed.
• Rub onto all sides of the pork belly.
• Place the belly in a nonreactive pan and top the meat with any remaining dry rub.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Gather braising ingredients.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.
• Sauté the onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and whole tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes.
• Add the wine and cook until evaporated.
• Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, juniper berries, cardamom, clove, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
• Heat the oven to 325 F. Remove the belly from the refrigerator and place in a roasting pan .
• Place the tomatoes around the pork.
• Pour the hot braising liquid over the pork belly.
• Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook for 3 1/2 hours or until completely tender when pierced with a fork. (The pork belly can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated in the braising liquid until ready to proceed to the next step.)
• Remove the belly from the braising liquid and cool slightly. Raise the oven to 400 F.
• Cut the belly into 4 portions.
• Add a little oil to a hot skillet and sauté for 2 minutes, fat-side down. Finish warming in the oven for 5 minutes, then serve.

BRAISED KOREAN PORK

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F In a small bowl, mix spices together for Korean Rub. Rinse pork and pat dry. Pat rub all over pork.
• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add pork and sear on all sides. Remove from pan and transfer to a roasting pan.
• For sauce: Add pears, carrots, celery, onions, garlic and ginger to pot. Cook until tender over medium heat, eight to twelve minutes. Once vegetables are tender, add apple juice and increase heat to medium high, stirring constantly and scraping bottom and sides of pan with wooden spoon to deglaze.
• Pour sauce over pork in roasting pan. Cover with foil and bake for three hours.

OVEN BRAISED BARBECUE PORK RIBS

Steps:

• Fold each sheet of foil in half lengthwise.
• You now have two double thick sheets measuring 18x18 inches.
• Stack them on top of each other, folded sides on top, and triple fold the three cut edge sides together, crimping firmly, leaving the folded edge side open.
• You now have a double thickness foil bag.
• Put the foil bag on a large baking sheet with sides (in case of leaks) and fill with the ribs, being careful not to puncture the bag if the ribs are 'bone-in'.
• Mix together the ketchup, beer, syrup, onion, garlic, Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
• Pour into the bag with the ribs.
• Triple fold and firmly crimp the top folded edges of the foil.
• Put the bag, still on the baking sheet, into a 300 degree oven for 3 hours.
• Remove from the oven, cut a corner of the foil bag, and drain the liquid contents into a sauce pan.
• Crimp the cut edge and set the ribs aside, still sealed in the foil.
• Bring the liquids to a boil and reduce to a glaze-like consistency (like b-b-que sauce).
• While the sauce is reducing, preheat your oven broiler.
• Place the ribs on a oil-sprayed broiler pan, being careful to keep as whole as possible, as they will be very tender.
• Taste the sauce and add more hot sauce if you want more spiciness.
• Brush the ribs generously with the sauce and broil close to the heat until the sauce starts to bubble and caramelize (about 1-2 mins.).
• Turn the ribs, and repeat.
• If you want a thicker coating, do this brush-and-broil process one more time per side.
• (I usually do.) Serve with any extra sauce to pour over.
• NOTE: If you don't have or can't find the dark maple syrup, dark corn syrup is a good substitute.