Spicy and sweet pork stir-fry with Korean chili sauce

This is one of my all time favorite Korean food. Essential ingredient of the sauce is fermented Korean red chili paste called ‘Gochujang’, which is very commonly used in Korean cooking. Its complex spiciness is well balanced with the sweetness from onion and honey in this dish. Feel free to add a bit more honey if you want extra sweet flavor. And if you are worried about the heat taste the sauce after adding 1-2 tablespoons of chili paste then adjust the amount to your liking. Best way to serve the pork is to with fresh lettuce and fluffy rice.

• Prep time: 2-2.5hrs
• Cooking time: 10mins
• Serves: 2 (generously)

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Ingredients

Chili sauce

• 3 tbsp. fermented Korean red chili paste – gochujang
• ¼ white or brown onion, grated
• 2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. mirin
• 2 tsp. pure honey
• 1 tsp. pure sesame oil
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 4-5 cloves. garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

Pork and others

• 460g. boneless pork neck/collar
• 1 tbsp. grape seed or canola oil
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 red chili, chopped
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Peel and grate ¼ of an onion in a food processor. Mix rest of the ingredients for chili sauce in a big bowl and set aside. Cut pork neck into roughly about 2 x 4cm strips. (Pork I use is about 1.5-2cm thick, if you happen to have thinly sliced cut like people use in Korea, cook the meat a few minutes less than instruction below). Add pork into the sauce, marinate for 2 hours. As you can imagine, longer you marinate the better flavor you will get. If you have time leave it to marinate over night.

Prepare the vegetables (deseed chili if necessary). Once the pork is marinated, add it in a non-stick pan with oil and start cooking in a medium heat. After 4 minutes, stir in vegetables and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Meat should feel springy when you press it with spatula.

Plate the pork and add toasted sesame seeds on top. Serve it with lettuce leaves and rice.