← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 400 g thinly sliced pork belly, cut into bite-size pieces
• 350 g soybean sprouts (kongnamul), rinsed
• ½ Onion, sliced
• ½ Carrot, thinly sliced
• 2 Spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths
• 10 Perilla leaves (kkaennip), torn (optional)
• 3 tbsp Water
• 3 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 2 tbsp Gochujang
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Mirin
• 1½ tbsp honey or sugar
• 6 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp Toasted sesame oil
• 300 g cooked short-grain rice
• 1 sheet roasted seaweed (gim), crumbled
• 50 g Kimchi, chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp Sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix the sauce ingredients and toss the pork in them.
2. Spread the bean sprouts over the base of a wide, deep pan. Add the onion and carrot, then the pork and all its sauce on top, and drizzle the water around the edge.
3. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5–6 min, without lifting the lid, until the sprouts have steamed down.
4. Uncover and stir everything together. Cook for 6–8 min, stirring, until the pork is cooked through and the sauce clings. Add the spring onion and perilla leaves for the last minute and eat straight from the pan.
5. When only a few spoonfuls of sauce are left, add the rice, kimchi and seaweed. Mix, press flat and fry for 3–4 min, until a crisp crust forms on the bottom. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Tips

• Koreans say not to lift the lid while soybean sprouts steam, or they take on a raw, beany smell.
• Mung bean sprouts work too but cook faster and release more water, so shorten the steaming time.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Seonkyoung Longest chopsticks and flour Kimchimari