Pork Kimchi

A few posts ago I wrote about Misono Wok in Super 88 and one of my favorite dishes there is Pork stir fried with kimchi. It's definitely been one of the tastier dishes I've had, and it's a very home-style type dish (especially because it's quick too!). So after asking around for some tips, I decided to give it a shot and make it myself!

I bought kimchi from John's Market in Allston to use with the pork belly from super 88. Now, making the pork kimchi was already adventurous enough for me so there was no way I was going to try to make kimchi as well :P Maybe next time! But anyway, John's makes fresh kimchi and packages it with a date so that you know the freshness. They also sell all sorts of other goodies for Korean cooking and even will provide thinly sliced meat and such, perfect for Korean BBQ or hot pot!

So, with some pork belly, kimchi, an onion, and gochujang, I set off to my task! The verdict? It was good, but I think I used too much kimchi and next time, I'm going to use pork shoulder instead of pork belly. Now I love pork belly...but it's pretty fatty and didn't really fit the dish I don't think.

Pork Kimchi

Serves 4-6
Time:20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb pork (shoulder or belly), sliced thin
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Gochujang
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ginger powder
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- dash sesame oil

- Kimchi – close to a pound
- 1 medium onion
- 2 stalks green onions, chopped

Method:
1. Marinate the pork in the rice wine and black pepper. Set aside for 20-30 minutes
2. Mix together the Gochujang through the sesame oil into a paste. Mix the paste with the pork.
3. Heat a wok with some oil. Add pork and stir fry, shouldn’t take too long because the pork needs to be sliced thin.
4. Add onions, and green onions. Stir fry quickly for a couple minutes
5. Add kimchi and rice cakes. Stir to mix well. Add ¼ cup water and steam for a few minutes. Add some more chili sauce or gochujang if you want it spicier.
6. Serve over rice

Misono Wok (Super 88) - Allston

If you went to college in the Boston area (or if you live nearby), you've probably heard about the Super 88 supermarket and food court. The first time I ate there was in 2002 at a Ramen stand that, unfortunately, no longer exists. Before then, I always thought ramen was something you make in 30 seconds and comes in individually sized bags. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience.

That Japanese ramen isn't around anymore, but its replacement, Misono Wok, is a more than ample replacement. They serve home-style Korean food, which isn't exactly easy to find in the city. But to be honest, until I got to Boston, I never really had a lot of Korean food, maybe because Korean food is even rarer in New Jersey!

But anyway, back to the food. When I think Korean food, the first thing that comes to mind is Korean BBQ (bulgogi, kalbi, etc), kimchi, and bibimbap. While Misono Wok does have some of these dishes available, my favorite dishes are their noodle dishes, especially the Tukboki (rice cake noodles), or Japche (glass thread noodles). I've also been a huge fan of the pork kimchi lately, and even tried making it myself (I'll save that for another day).

New Jang Su Korean BBQ - Burlington MA

Spicy Squid and Pork stir fry

So it's been another long while since the last post! To tell the truth, I didn't cook the whole month of September, horrible isn't it??? That, coupled with vacations to Las Vegas and Seattle, and wow, my body was hating me!

Anyway, enough of that and back to the food huh? This post is about New Jang Su Korean BBQ, and as the name suggests, a Korean BBQ in Burlington MA. A very good friend of mine rants and raves about this place, and believe it or not, it was over a year before I managed to arrange dinner there :)

So, a bunch of us finally went a couple months back, and wow, definitely worth the trip (and nearly the year's wait too!) The Kalbi was incredibly juicy and the Bibimbap was one of the best I've had. My friend ordered more than enough for 10-12 people (There were 8 of us) and it's a good thing too, since we ended up finishing it all!

Bibimbap

Kalbi

Super 88 foodcourt - A smorgasbord of Asian cuisine

Crispy Basil Chicken

Super 88 is one of the local Asian Supermarkets (there's several other smaller markets around) to Allston. They have a pretty good selection of Asian sauces, vegetables, and snacks, among many other things. There's a large seafood section where you can get fresh (read: alive :P) fish or not as fresh (read: not alive) fish on ice. You choose a fish, tell the fishmonger, and he'll gut it, scale it, and if you want, remove the head and the tail as well. They also have a decent selection of meats, though I think the seafood section might actually be bigger but they have a coarse grinder for their meat, which is the way I like it. And I can't forget the fresh noodles that are stocked as well.

But one of the unique things about this Super 88 is that there's a food court, called the Super 88 Connection. There are about 8 (I might be forgetting one) places to get a freshly cooked meal, spanning Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Chinese, and Indian food. There's also a bubble tea stand, Lollicup that has a wide variety of sweet drinks.

Anyway, on this particular occasion, a few friends and I decided to stage a family-style lunch, that is, we all order something different and share. Ended up with quite a variety of food from four of the different restaurants...the basil chicken is shown above. All in all quite delicious, two of my favorite dishes to get at Super 88 are shown, see if you can guess which one! ;)

Basil Squid:

Vegetable Tikka Masala:

Lemongrass Pork:

Pork Kimchi: