Ginger Pork Don 日式姜燒豬肉井

Last year I bought a cookbook named Donburi, by Aki Watanabe. On the cover, it also says in smaller print: 'delightful Japanese meals in a bowl'. Indeed I have found the book to be full of tasty, delightful and easy-to-follow recipes, and especially useful when cooking for 1-2 persons. Not only does it include traditional dishes, the author also added some new and creative recipes to make Donburi. It's a good buy for me as there are many recipes I would actually like to cook from, versus just browsing for pleasure.

Originally Donburi referred to a deep bowl which can be made of wood, ceramic or clay, and may come with a cover. These days, Donburi is commonly used to describe a Japanese "rice bowl dish" consisting of meat, seafood and/or vegetables prepared in different ways and served over rice. It is also frequently abbreviated as "Don". These toppings can be deep-fried, pan-fried, stir-fried, grilled, steamed or raw, then simmered in or served with sauces. They go well with a simple salad or soup, something busy housewives, mothers and professionals will appreciate.

One of the first recipes from this cookbook that I tried and love is ginger pork don. It's a popular Japanese homestyle dish, simple and quick to make. The onion and pork are first pan-fried before being briefly simmered in the ginger sauce. Apart from its many health benefits, ginger also has the ability to tenderize and remove any odor from meat. In this recipe, it works perfectly with typical Japanese seasonings to create an appetizing and delicious dish that I believe even non-lovers of ginger will love.

RECIPE FOR GINGER PORK DON
Adapted from Donburi

Serves 2

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Ingredients
300g pork loin or shoulder/butt, cut into 4mm (1/4 inch) thick slices
1 Tbsp ginger juice (grate ginger and squeeze for juice)
2 Tbsp sake
1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
400g steamed rice
150g cabbage, shredded

Sauce
2 Tbsp ginger, grated
4 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin
1½ Tbsp sugar

Steps:

1) Marinate pork slices with ginger juice and sake.

2) In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together.

3) Over medium heat, heat up 1 Tbsp oil in a large flat pan. Stir-fry onion till half translucent. Transfer to a plate.

4) Marinate pork slices briefly in sauce. Using medium heat, heat up 1 Tbsp oil in pan. Arrange pork in one layer and pan-fry till lightly-browned (about 1-2 minutes) on one side. Flip over to cook other side. Transfer to a plate when done.

5) Wipe pan with paper towels. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Add pork and onion back to the pan. Cook till pork is coated with sauce and remove from heat.

6) Serve pork and onion over rice, with shredded cabbage on the side.