Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 日本各地
Servings: 2人分
Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork) is a home-style meat dish. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- 250 g thinly sliced pork loin (for ginger pork)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tsp potato starch
- 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- [Sauce] 1 tbsp grated ginger (about a 1-inch knob)
- [Sauce] 2 tbsp soy sauce
- [Sauce] 1 tbsp sake
- [Sauce] 2 tbsp mirin
- [Sauce] 1 tsp sugar
- Shredded cabbage (2 leaves)
- 4 tomato wedges
Steps
- With the tip of a knife, cut the sinew between the fat and the lean meat in 3 or 4 places. This stops the slices from shrinking and curling when cooked.
- Slice the onion along the grain into 7–8 mm strips. Mix all the sauce ingredients together.
- Dust both sides of the pork lightly with starch through a tea strainer. The starch helps the sauce cling and keeps the meat from turning tough.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, stir-fry the onion for about 2 minutes and push it to the side.
- Lay the pork in the free space without overlapping and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes until browned. Turn and cook for another minute; once the meat changes colour, toss it with the onion.
- Pour the sauce around the pan and cook over medium-high heat, tossing to coat. When it thickens and turns glossy, turn off the heat.
- Arrange the cabbage and tomato on plates, top with the ginger pork and pour over the sauce left in the pan.
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Notes
Because the meat is not marinated but coated in sauce after searing, it is less likely to burn and stays tender.
Freshly grated ginger smells far better than ginger from a tube. Adding a little more at the end lifts the aroma.
Pork shoulder or offcuts also work. Offcuts cook quickly, so shorten the cooking time.
For a bento, reduce the sauce a little more so the rice doesn't get soggy.
Origin and history
Shogayaki is thinly sliced pork cooked in a sauce of grated ginger and soy sauce. Familiar from the "ginger pork set meal" at set-meal restaurants, it is a classic home dish that goes perfectly with rice.
Ginger has long been used in Japanese cooking as a condiment that removes the smell of fish and meat and adds fragrance. Pork only became an everyday food after the Meiji era; when pig farming grew after the war and pork became affordable, this quick dish of pork seared with ginger and soy spread as a staple at Western-style restaurants and casual diners.
The classic way to serve it is with a heap of shredded cabbage. The sweet-savoury sauce and ginger aroma coat the cabbage too, so every bite is good to the last.