Dwaeji Bulgogi (Korean Spicy Marinated Pork)

I am a huge fan of Korean cuisine and it's always fascinating to learn about the different ingredients and uses for them in preparing Korean dishes. The few essential Korean ingredients that I always stock in my pantry are dwenjang (fermented soy bean paste), gochujang (red pepper paste) and gochugaru (red pepper flakes/powder), and with these on hand, I am able to cook up quite a number of my favourite dishes. I have been eyeing this spicy grilled pork dish that was posted by Hyosun of Eating and Living for a few months now, and finally decided to try it out. I have full faith in her recipes as I have tried a few of them with much success, and I was certain this one was going to be another hit at the dinner table.

Do pardon the poorly taken photo above as I took it right after the others had hungrily tucked into the dish, while I was busy trying to get dinner on the table as fast as possible so that I, too, could sit down and enjoy the food. I used very thinly sliced pork belly for this (that was all I could find at the supermarket), which I believe is much thinner than that used by Hyosun in her dish. Although the texture would have been different, but it still tasted absolutely delicious with the sweet, salty and spicy flavours. Even my mum (my biggest food critic...) loved it and asked for the recipe (I think I might have converted her!).


Dwaeji Bulgogi (Korean Spicy Marinated Pork)
Adapted from Eating and Living

450g (or 1 pound) thinly sliced pork belly (or pork shoulder)
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 – 3 scallions, roughly chopped

Marinade:
3 tablespoons Korean red chili pepper paste (gochujang)
1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine (or mirin)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Method

Mix all marinade ingredients well. Cut the pork belly into bite size pieces (about 2-inch long). Combine the meat, onion, and scallions with the marinade and mix well. Marinate for at least an hour.

Heat a grill pan or a skillet over medium high heat and add the pork slices. Cook until the pork is cooked through and slightly caramelized, turning over once. Dish out and served with boiled white rice. How easy was that? :)