When you start cooking Japanese food at home, you will quickly learn that there are five essential condiments. Today’s Miso Ginger Pork (味噌しょうが焼き) uses four of them: soy sauce, mirin, sake, and miso (leaving out rice vinegar). If you already love ginger pork, this Miso Ginger Pork takes the dish to the next level of deliciousness!
Tired of Ginger Pork? Try Miso Ginger Pork
I often receive emails and messages from readers who don’t know what to do with the remaining miso in the back of their refrigerators. They often buy a tub of miso to cook with just one or two dishes and do not know what else to do. My quick response would be to make Miso Soup every time you serve a Japanese dish with steamed rice. But if you want more ideas, I suggest using miso to season meat and fish. You’ll be surprised at the depth of flavor that miso adds to everything you stir it into. The typical Ginger pork, or Shogayaki in Japanese, is thinly sliced pork loin sautéed with ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. It is one of my favorite go-to dishes as I love the combination of all these flavors. It is also super easy to put together and is guaranteed to hit the dinner table in about 15 minutes. If you have a tub of miso in your refrigerator right now, you can utilize this all-purpose ingredient by incorporating it with the rest of the seasonings for Miso Ginger Pork. A spoonful is all it takes to make the classic home-cooked dish special. Remember that miso can burn easily, so I don’t recommend marinating the meat for this dish. Make sure the pork is cooked through first before you pour in the sauce.
Use Hikari Miso® Organic Miso to Make Miso Ginger Pork
Are you new to Japanese condiments and not sure what brand of miso to buy? My recommendation is Hikari Miso. I wish someone had told me about this brand when I first came to the U.S. Instead, I purchased, tasted, and tested different brands of miso that were available in my local Japanese grocery stores for several years until I finally discovered Hikari Miso. It is undeniably my favorite go-to brand when it comes to miso paste. I’ve been using their miso every day for almost a decade and cannot speak more favorably for their miso pastes. Click here to read more about miso. I used Hikari Miso Organic Miso (White Miso) for this Miso Ginger Pork recipe. White miso is the most common paste in the U.S., and its mild flavor pairs well with any dishes and soups. If you have other types of miso – like red or dashi miso – you can still use what you have for today’s recipe.
How to Grate Ginger
Helpful Tips and Substitutes
With some planning, this Miso Ginger Pork could be your reliable dinner option. If you prepare steamed rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage (or any salad) ahead of time, you can assemble this dish in 15 minutes or even less. Even though it’s such a simple dish to make, here are some tips and substitute information which I hope it’s helpful for you:
Miso gets burnt easily. It’s always good to remember this. Like honey, miso almost always burns easily in the heat. Therefore, I do not recommend adding miso to the marinade for this dish. But if you want to add miso to the marinade, remove/wipe off the marinade completely before you pan fry.
Use thinly sliced meat. For this dish, you want to use thinly sliced meat so the flavors soak through the meat just fine without marinating. It can be pork loin or pork belly, whichever you can get. Japanese, Korean, and Chinese grocery stores carry thinly sliced meat, but if you can’t find them at your local store, you can cut them thinly by yourself.
Substitute for Pork/Sake/Mirin. Although this classic dish uses pork, you can use other protein choices or vegetables. Chicken, beef, shrimp, mushrooms, or eggplants are some examples that would go well with the sauce. For sake and mirin substitution, read this post for detailed information.
To enjoy the juicy, succulent piece of miso-glazed ginger pork, serve it with steamed rice, shredded cabbage, cucumber, and tomatoes. Okawari (another serving) is guaranteed! Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
