Korean Pork and Cabbage Stir-Fry (Dwaeji Bokkeum)

Ingredients

• 600g pork belly or pork shoulder, thinly sliced, Ask the butcher to slice thin, or freeze for 20 minutes and slice yourself
• 3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chilli paste), Available in the Asian foods aisle at New World or Pak'nSAVE — check label: should contain chilli, rice, soybean, salt only
• 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce, Use tamari for a cleaner ingredient list
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 20g fresh ginger, finely grated, About a 3cm piece
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil (toasted), Added at the end, not used as cooking fat
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil, For stir-frying
• 400g green cabbage, roughly shredded, About half a small cabbage
• 200g carrots, julienned or coarsely grated, About 2 medium carrots
• 200g leek, white and pale green part, sliced into half-moons, About 1 large leek, washed well
• 1 tablespoon honey, Raw or standard honey to balance the gochujang
• 800g steamed white or brown rice, Cooked weight, about 320g dry rice

Method

1. Make the sauce by whisking together the gochujang, tamari, honey, minced garlic, and grated ginger in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Place the sliced pork in a bowl, add half the sauce, and toss to coat. Leave to marinate while you prepare the vegetables, at least 5 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil in a large wok or wide frying pan over high heat until shimmering. Add the pork in a single layer (cook in two batches if needed) and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through and lightly caramelised. Remove pork from the pan and set aside.
4. Add the remaining tablespoon of avocado oil to the pan. Add the leek and carrots and stir-fry over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and continue stir-frying for another 3 minutes until the cabbage is just wilted but still has some texture.
5. Return the pork to the pan along with any resting juices. Pour over the remaining sauce and toss everything together over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes until everything is coated and glossy.
6. Remove from heat and drizzle over the toasted sesame oil. Toss once more. Serve immediately over steamed rice, dividing evenly across four portions.

Batch cooking tip

• Store the stir-fry and rice separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days. The pork mixture reheats well in a hot pan with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. If batch-cooking for the week, undercook the cabbage very slightly so it does not go soggy on reheating.