Well, doesn’t this look like a red hot mess. This kimchi pork stir fry is just what you need at the end of a long day, to eat what you feel because your manager said something inflammatory.
Let the kimchi and pork do the talking
With just 5 ingredients, the main two, kimchi and pork. do most of the work for you. You just need to be there to stir them together.
Spicy, sour, over fermented kimchi paired with fatty pork belly. Pork belly is essentially bacon without the curing and smoking. Though you could try this with bacon. (It just might be a bit salty since the kimchi already has quite a bit of salt.)
Let’s marry these two and season with fresh ginger, onion and green onion as eyewitnesses.
The Wedding of the Weekday
To recap our wedding of the weekday, we need:
Something old: Over fermented kimchi that has been sitting in your refrigerator for too long and has turned sour
Something need: Thin sliced pork belly, pre-bought or thin slice pork belly yourself
Something borrowed: minced ginger, sliced onions and green onion
Something blue: your mood because you’re having that kind of day and don’t really want to be bothered to cook something complicated
To have and to hold each other for the rest of their lives, or at least until dinner. Let’s get this ceremony started.
Step 1: Slice
Slice the onion 1/4″ thick, slice the green onion into 2″ strips, and mince ginger. If the napa cabbage red kimchi is not already cut into 2″ squares, you will need to cut that too.
Sometimes, you can find pork belly already thin sliced 1/8″ thick. This is used for hot pot or lettuce wraps. If not, you can buy a block of it and slice as thin as you can.
Step 2: Cook Onion and Pork
Heat a pan to medium high heat. If using a non-stick pan, you don’t need oil, since the pork will glaze the pan with its drippings.
If using a regular pan, you will need to add 1 tsp of oil to coat the pan.
Add the pork and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until the pork is slightly browned. If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, drain out before adding the kimchi, so the final dish is not too greasy.
Step 3: Add Kimchi
Marry in the kimchi and keep stirring.
Cook 3-5 minutes. You want the kimchi to soften and not be crunchy anymore.
Step 4: Add aromatics
The green onion and ginger don’t need long. Add to the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes just until they get soft.
Step 5: Serve hot
Kimchi and pork have now become one, and it’s time to sit down and enjoy the festivities.
This is a salty dish, so do eat with rice.
No Soy Sauce
Some recipes add soy sauce to this stir fry. Depending how salty your kimchi is or is not, you can add if you wish.
Kimchi & Pork: the Classic Duo
Kimchi and pork are a classic Korean duo. They are spotted together in soups, lettuce wraps, and might be coming soon to a theatre near you.
Get to know these two a little better with this stir-fry. It’s easy enough, quick enough, and reliable enough to make at the end of a long day.
Easy Kimchi & Pork Belly Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1/4 lb thinly sliced pork belly 1/4" thick
- 1/4 ea onion sliced 1/4" thick
- 1 c kimchi preferably overfermented and sour
- 1 Tb ginger minced
- ea green onion Cut into 2" pieces
Instructions
- Heat pan to medium high heat. Add pork belly and onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring until pork and onion are slightly browned. If there is excess oil from the pork belly, remove it before adding kimchi.
- Add kimchi and cook for 3-5 minutes until kimchi is almost turning translucent.
- Add ginger and green onion and cook for 1-2 minutes to remove rawness.
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