I love cooking but even I like to go out to eat sometimes, or just to get takeout. One of our standby places to go is a local Korean food cart. The last time we went I ordered a spicy pork dish and then ate it at a local park. Many locals rave about this food cart, but to be honest the food is a bit bland for my husband and I. I think it’s because they make it mild for American tastes, or are just trying to save on costs. Vegetables and spices are not cheap and so this restaurant may compromise on flavor to keep the food at a certain price point.

Since my pork dish was a bit disappointing, to be honest, I decided to see if I could improve on what they made.

This pork dish is pretty easy to put together especially if you are the type of person to have some Asian-style ingredients in your pantry (e.g., Korean pepper powder, pepper paste, and rice syrup). If you don’t have them this will be an excuse to venture over to your local Asian grocery store (or possibly in some supermarkets).

My family liked this version so much that I didn’t end up with any leftovers at all. If you’re not as hungry as my family was when we ate this, you might have some leftovers and be able to enjoy this more than one day. We think it’s really great.

Ingredients

Spicy sauce

• 2 tbsp. garlic, mince
• 2 tbsp. green onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp. Korean red pepper paste
• 1 tbsp. Korean red pepper powder
• 1 tbsp. Korean rice syrup
• 1 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper powder

Pork and Cabbage

• 3 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 1/4 lbs. pork sirloin chops boneless, cut into 1 1/2-inch long thin strips
• 1 cup yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch julienne
• 1 cup carrots, cut into 1 1/4 in long strips
• 4 cups Napa cabbage, cut into 1/3-inch slices

Instructions

Spicy sauce

Mix all of the spicy sauce ingredients together well in a bowl and set aside.

Pork and cabbage

In a large bowl, mix pork and spicy sauce together and marinate for 20 minutes. Prep the rest of the ingredients and set aside for faster cooking process.

Heat a large non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp. of oil. Add onion and carrot to the wok and fry for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are a bit charred around the edges. Remove from the wok and transfer the vegetables to a plate.

Add another 1 tbsp. of oil to the wok, then add the cabbage. Cook for 3-5 minutes until cabbage pieces are slightly brown around the edges. Remove from the wok and transfer it to same plate as the onion and carrots.

Next, add the last 1 tbsp. of oil to the wok, move the wok around a bit to coat the bottom of the wok well with the oil. Add the marinated pork and cook for 8-10 minutes until the pork is cooked through stirring occasionally. If the sauce stick to the bottom or side of the wok too much, you can turn down the heat a little and add couple tbsp. of water.

Once the pork is cooked through, turn down the heat to medium-low. Next, add the cooked vegetables back to the wok and stir well. Taste for seasoning and serve over cooked white or brown rice!

Serves 4

Did you make this dish? I’d love to know how it turns out! Feel free to like this post and comment or use the hashtag #globaldinein on Instagram. If you would to be notified of upcoming posts, please consider subscribing to my blog!