Passport & Plate - Korean chili braised pork with lemon cilantro rice
South Korea | Thursday, March 13, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
For the Chili Braised Pork Belly:
2 pound pork belly, cut into 6 even portions
2 large onions
2 large carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup Korean chili paste (gochujang)
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the Lemon Cilantro Rice:
1 1/2 cup brown rice
3 cups water
½ lemon
1/3 cup chopped cilantro, loosely packed
2 tablespoons butter
Lemon wedges and sprigs of cilantro, for garnish
How to prepare this recipe1. Cut 1 onion in half and slice into very thin strips (1/8th of an inch thick) and the other into thick wedges. Cut carrots in half, lengthwise and slice on a diagonally into ¼ inch thick half moons
2. Place a large pan on medium to low heat and add the olive oil and the thinly sliced onions. Cover with a lid and sweat onions until almost translucent. Sweating the onions releases the aroma and converts any starch into sugars, providing a sweetness to the dish
3. While the onions are sweating, in a medium sized pot, add rice and rinse through water a couple times and drain. Once rinsed, add the water and butter and place on high heat until it starts to boil. When boiling, lower heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes (or until all water is absorbed)
4. When onions are soft, bring heat up to medium heat and add the pork belly and chili paste. Mix all ingredients in the pan to coat the pork belly in the oniony, chili pastey, delicious mix. Cover with the lid and after 10 minutes, add the remaining onions and carrots. Again, mix to coat the vegetables in the sauce (If you find the sauce is getting too thick, add a few teaspoons of water). Cook for another 5 minutes until vegetables are cooked, but still firm
5. When the rice is done, squeeze in the juice from the lemon and add the cilantro. Mix through the rice
To serve, place a bed of rice on a plate and top with the vegetables and sauce from the pork belly mix. Slice pork belly into 1/3 inch thick pieces and place on top of the vegetables. Garnish with lemon and cilantro sprigs
The story behind this recipeThe thick aroma of stewing pork crowded the muted morning light, peppering through my bedroom drapes. Heavy with spices with hints of sweetness, it woke me, and I knew: Daddy was home.
Being a Marine Engineer, Dad was away from home over 7 months of a year, only being able to communicate via telephone, once a month, twice if we were lucky. I envied his jet setting lifestyle, blinded, no, shielded from the hardships he endured to provide for his family.
When home, Dad was a sharp cook and eagerly created dining events at every opportunity. He loved the company of others. His go to recipe, this one, he learnt from his dad in South Korea, but adapted over the years to accommodate our westernized palates. This dish was made every time Dad came home. To me, this meal symbolized a love; a love of family and unity, and that we were once again, a family, reunited.
I never thought to learn this recipe myself. I never thought I would need to, but then, it was my turn to jet set.
Today, at 26, I am 27 countries wiser, 3 languages stronger, a world of memories more stout and 9,925 miles away from home. Continuously fulfilling this desire to jet set around the world, I settled in New York in 2011. A New Yorker by title, an Aussie at heart, born to a family of South Korean emigrants, this recipe is one I have prepared again and again for my new families, comprised of friends, old and new, whom I’ve adopted across 4 continents. What was once my dad’s special meal for our family has become my special meal to share on.
In New York, this meal is comfort food for a city that provides so few familiar comforts. Through sharing dining experiences with new friends in unfamiliar countries, I’ve been privileged in discovering others’ familial, cultural and unpublished dishes and learned from them more than I could have ever imagined. And all through first, sharing this one dish
