Miso-Marinated Pork

Meat is not my most favorite food, but I do get a craving for yakiniku (Japanese version of BBQ- it literary means “grilled meat”) sometimes.  Usually I go for thinly sliced beef if having yakiniku at home here in Perth, but marinated chicken thigh or pork fillets are actually great alternatives.

Marinating in miso based marinade gives meat tender and full of flavour.  I bet you’ll love it with freshly cooked steamed rice and some shredded cabbage!  Yummmm…  So does other marinated meat, this one gets burned easily when cooking so make sure you keep an eye on it while grilling.  Searing the meat in a hot pan gives great flavour of caramelised sweet miso paste to the meat.    You can cook this in a yakiniku plate and eat as you cook in the table, or cook in a pan and serve with shredded cabbage and hot steamed rice.  You can also make it in a donburi style by arranging the meat and cabbage on a bed of steamed rice in a serving bowl.

This pork is also great to have with somen noodle in summer.  Chilled somen noodle with dipping sauce sometimes doesn’t satisfy your hunger, but serving that with this freshly grilled pork and some summer salad makes a great treat for a hot day!

<Miso-Marinated Pork> serves 2~3 people

• Pork fillet 300g (I used pork loin fillet)
• Miso paste 3 tablespoon (I used red miso paste)
• Mirin (sweet cooking wine) 1 tablespoon
• Sake (cooking wine) 1 tablespoon
• Honey 1 tablespoon
• Soy sauce 1 teaspoon
• Sesame oil 1 teaspoon
• Garlic & ginger, grated, around 1 teaspoon each

1. Mix all the ingredients except pork.
2. Place pork fillets in a ziplock bag with the mixed sauce.  Marinate half-day or overnight.
3. Remove pork from the marinade.  Cut into 1~2cm width.
4. Heat a frying pan and spray oil.  When the pan is really really hot, add the meat and quickly move around the pan to sear the meat.  Be cautious not to burn the meat.
5. Serve with rice while hot.

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