The flavors of Korea are absolutely my favorite of all to work with. The bold flavor combinations, the heat, the savory, and even the sweetness that can come with certain dishes, Korean cuisine is definitely favored by many. There are so many fresh ingredients to work with and the variety of dishes to experience, you won't ever be bored! This dish has some flexibility. You can have rice, barley, or noodles. The vegetables can be your choice as well. This is a great dish to experience as a stepping stone into tasting flavors associated with Korean dishes.
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PLEASE NOTE: You have options! Fresh noodles or instant. Barley or Rice. As far as vegetables, use your favorite vegetables for this dish. You can also adjust the amount of gochugaru based on how spicy you prefer it to be.
INGREDIENTS:
1lb (453g) Pork shoulder/butt/belly, sliced into stir-fry sized strips
1lb Wheat Noodles, par-cooked and chilled (can use instant) 2 C vegetables, your choice, sliced thin*
1 Scallions - half finely diced, half chopped
1 Cucumber, large, seeds removed and diced
1 Carrot, small, peeled, sliced thin
MARINADE BASE:
4oz Tamari/Soy Sauce 4oz Rice Vinegar
4oz Honey
3oz Ginger/Garlic, pureed 50/50
1 tsp White Pepper
(Reserve 4oz of this in a separate bowl before adding the rest of the ingredients)
3oz Oyster Sauce Gochugaru powder - to your own liking
Sesame oil, to taste INSTRUCTIONS: 1.) Cut your pork into small, but manageable stir-fry slices as thin as possible. If you have to, partially freeze your pork and carefully cut your thin slices. Set aside in a bowl 2.) In a mixing bowl, add all of your marinade base, except the oyster sauce and gochugaru. Mix well until the honey is fully dissolved.
3.) From this marinade base, reserve 4oz into a small storage container and set aside.
4.) Return back to the marinade base mixing bowl and now add your oyster sauce and gochugaru powder. Mix this well until the powder is absorbed fully.
5.) Into the mixing bowl, add your sliced pork and mix well until everything has touched the marinade. Set this aside on the counter.
6.) Your vegetables need to be rinsed off. Peeling them is up to you. Make thin chip-cuts as universal as possible. You can either set each prepped vegetable into a container or place on a plate, separated or mixed together.
7.) Trim the ends off your cucumber and remove the seeds. Cut your cucumber into small diced pieces. Add to a storage container.
8.) Take your carrot, peel and remove top and bottom. Either straight or on the bias, begin slicing your carrot into thin slices. Add this to your storage container with the cucumber.
9.) Add your reserved 4oz marinade to the cucumber/carrot container. Seal with a tight-fitting lid and shake until thoroughly incorporated. This is your pickled element for serving with dinner. Send this to the fridge until ready to serve dinner.
10.) In a medium pot filled about half-way with water, boil. Add your noodles. If you are using fresh, the noodles will cook fast so, no more than two-three minutes. If you are using instant ramyeon, cook a few minutes less than package directions. Drain and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.
10.) Into a saute pan on medium-high heat, add a little neutral oil. Begin sauteeing your prepped vegetables. You can either cook one vegetable at a time or cook them all together. Saute for just a few minutes and remove from the heat.
11.) Remove the pork from the marinade and allow it to drain as much as possible. Once the pan comes back to temperature, add your pork and begin sauteeing to your own liking. It does not have to be fully cooked any longer.
12.) Once the pork is cooked, remove to a separate container. Into the pan, add your par-cooked noodles. Toss to coat in the pan sauce for just a couple of minutes. Drizzle some sesame oil around the sides. Toss the noodles around to get an even coating of sesame oil. Remove from the pan.
OPTIONAL: Any leftover marinade can be slowly reduced down into a glaze. Just take a small pot or small pan on low-medium heat. Periodically stir the sauce to help avoid burning the bottom. This will thicken after about five minutes or so.
Into your favorite bowls, portion out your noodles.
Drizzle some of the glaze on top of your noodles. Add each of your favorite vegetables to your bowl.
Your pickled soy-cucumbers can go next in to your bowl.
Add your pork.
Garnish with the finely chopped scallion, white sesame seeds, and a light dusting of gochugaru.
*VEGETABLE OPTIONS: The classic options in stir-fry, rice-bowls, and noodle-bowls are onion, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, bean sprouts, scallions, corn, eggplant, celery, etc. The key is to make sure you have uniform cuts.
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