This is a typical Japanese dinner dish everybody loves – called shoga yaki in Japanese. The juice from freshly grated ginger flavours the meat and makes it irresistible. This ginger teriyaki pork is surprisingly quick and easy to cook. You can add more ginger if you like it spicier.
Ingredients (serve 2)
4-6 pork schnitzels (about 300-400g)
1 tablespoon juice of ginger (grate ginger with fine grater and squeeze the juice out)
1 tablespoon sake (dry white wine works fine)
For the teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sake (dry white wine is fine)
More grated ginger (1-2 teaspoonfuls)
Cooking oil
Lettuce, tomato and alfalfa to serve
How to make teriyaki pork:
Cut each pork schnitzel into 2-3 pieces. Make a few slits with a sharp knife between the fat and flesh if any. Lay flat on a plate in a single layer and sprinkle sake and ginger juice. Turn and let the liquid cover the surface of pork. Leave to marinade for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small bowl.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. When the frying pan is hot, pat dry each schnitzel piece with kitchen towel to remove excess liquid and add to the pan in a single layer. A few pieces at a time. Cook until the colour changes. Turn the meat over and cook the other side. This only takes a minute or so. Remove cooked meat from the frying pan onto a plate and continue cooking until all pieces are cooked.
Return all pieces back in the frying pan. Sprinkle sake, and then pour soy sauce mixture. Let the meat cook in the sauce, turning frequently so the sauce covers the meat completely. When the sauce has become thick, add more freshly grated ginger and finish cooking.
Serve immediately with lettuce, tomato and alfalfa or your favorite vegetables.
Tip: Mirin is one of the key seasonings for Japanese cooking – it is basically a sweet sake (rice wine). You can purchase mirin from most supermarkets and Asian grocery shops.
