DWAEJIGOGI BOKKEUM

DWAEJIGOGI BOKKEUM

#SIAintheKitchen

Rain (lots of it!), cozy sweaters, pants and jackets. It must be fall in Vancouver.

Korean food is one of my favourite cuisines to cook. In fact, it’s actually rising up to be one of my favourite cuisines, period. There’s just something about how delicious the sweet and spicy combinations are and not to mention the countless banchan, or side dishes there are - yum!

For some reason, I am always left with a good handful of bean sprouts. They can be found in almost all Asian cuisines and are so easy to cook or to throw into various recipes. With that being the inspiration of this dish, I thought of what else I wanted to cook. I wanted to make something I had never tried before. With my leftover bean sprouts paired with this cold weather, I decided to try my hand at making dwaejigogi bokkeum (Korean stir fried pork belly).

Now, this isn’t a dish for the faint of heart. Pork belly, in western cuisine, typically viewed as an ingredient that is super fatty - at it is - but it is so commonly used in Korean cuisine that I would say it’s just normal. This dish is no exception. Tender, fat-streaked pieces of pork belly enveloped in a signature sweet and spicy sauce. Dwaejigogi bokkeum sometimes has mushrooms, zucchini and carrot in it but I’ve kept this version real simple and traditional to its roots.

As it is a stir fry, it’s a good idea to have all the ingredients chopped and ready to go. This dish shouldn’t take more than 15 - 30 minutes to make, depending on how fast you chop. It is a must that you serve this with rice - Korean banchan is optional but highly recommended. Don’t forget the soju!

DWAEJIGOGI BOKKEUM - serves 4 (adapted from Maangchi)

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 white onion, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2” knob of ginger, de-skinned and minced

• 3 stalks scallions, sliced in to 1" pieces

• 1 lb pork belly, sliced

• 3 heaping tbsp gochujang

• 1 tbsp gochugaru

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• pinch white pepper

• toasted sesame oil

• sesame seeds, garnish

1. In a large wok, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high. Add in the pork belly, gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar and soy sauce and stir fry for few minutes or until the gochujang has dissolved.

2. Add in the onions, scallions, ginger and garlic. Stir fry until the pork belly is cooked, about 4 more minutes. Add the white pepper, a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and garish with sesame seeds. Serve with white rice.