Kanako's Kitchen

Literally, shoga-yaki means “ginger stir-fry” but, of course, the shioga (“ginger”) refers to the flavoring rather than the main ingredient. As its name implies, the fragrance of grated ginger is the key to this dish: combined with the sweetness of onions and the succulence of pork, it makes for an absolutely winning stir fry!

When I started to write this post, I tried to do my usual thing: a bit of online research to try to find out where it’s originally from. Turns out it’s really hard to pin shiogayaki down: anywhere in Asia where there’s ginger, soy sauce and pigs somebody will try to put the three together on a hot pan.

And the results are…well, just give it a try. This dish will make a believer out of you in no time.

• Pork – 200 grams
• Onion – One large one
• Soy sauce – One tablespoon

For the marinade

• Ginger – one about 5-8 cm. long.
• Soy sauce – half a tablespoon
• Mirin – half a tablespoon
• Sake – one tablespoon

Preparation

1. Slice the pork as thin as possible (This makes the end result tender.)
2. Place pork in a bowl, pour in soy-sauce, mirin, and sake
3. Add the grated ginger, mix well, massaging with your hand.
4. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes ( Maximum 15 minutes. More than that and the pork will harden)
5. While the pork marinades, julienne the onions

click to enlarge

Cooking

1. Add a tablespoon of canola oil to a large pan.
2. Brown the pork evenly for a few minutes
3. Add the onions
4. Stir fry until everything is well cooked
5. At the very end, add one tablespoon of soy sauce, stir fry briefly while liquid evaporates.

click to enlarge

Serve hot

Shiogayaki goes great with potato salad. Match made in heaven.