The Simple Pleasures of Pork Simmered with Ginger

Spending two weeks in Japan last year gave me an even greater appreciation for the food there. Not just for the regal kaiseki experiences or the sublime omakase meals, but for the uncomplicated everyday food that’s so inexpensive and readily available.
Things like a creamy egg salad sandwich on squishy milk bread from Lawson’s convenience store, the freshly made sesame seed-studded onigiri from the 7-Eleven with rice that was never too cold or too hard, and the shattering crunch of a soy-brushed rice cracker that somehow tasted better than any others I’d ever had.

“A Day In Tokyo” (Smith Street Books, 2024), of which I received a review copy, let me relive those marvelous food memories through its pages.
The cookbook was written by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng, who have traveled extensively through Japan for more than a decade. Liew worked at Benu in San Francisco, as well as Michelin three-starred Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo and Hong Kong. The couple also ran a pop-up Japanese restaurant, Chotto, in Melbourne that specialized in traditional ryokan-style breakfasts.
Through photos, texts, and recipes, the book take you on a trip through Tokyo from early morning when it’s at its quietest to midday when “salarymen” and office workers emerge from sky-high office buildings for bowls of ramen for lunch to late night when the neon blazes and highballs are hoisted.
Get a taste of this bustling metropolis that’s a mix of old and new in dishes such as “Miso Eggplant Gratin,” “Fried Chicken with Tartare Sauce,” “Curry Buns,” “Sukiyaki,” and “Yuzu Madeleines.”
“Pork Simmered with Ginger (Buta No Shogayaki)” immediately reminded my husband of a dish his Japanese mother used to cook. As Liew and Ng point out in the book, it’s a Japanese household staple.
It’s easy to see why: It’s a stir-fry dish that cooks up in no time, flavored with Japanese pantry staples, and served with steamed rice and pickled ginger.
Slice the pork — I used tenderloin — and add to a frying pan, flipping to cook both sides. Then, pour in a mixture of finely sliced ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Let it reduce a bit until the pork is cooked through, and it’s ready just like that.

The pork is tender and full of umami. It’s sweet, savory, and very gingery, which is right up my alley as a certified ginger fanatic.
This is the kind of dish that caresses like a warm hug. No surprise, of course, since it’s from the land of the rising sun.
Pork Simmered with Ginger (Buta No Shogayaki)
(Serves 4)
50 grams (1 3/4 ounces; about a 3 1/2-inch piece) ginger, finely sliced
60 milliliters (1/4 cup) soy sauce
60 milliliters (1/4 cup) mirin
30 milliliters (1 fluid ounce) sake
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 tablespoon neutral oil, for frying
600 grams (1 pound 5 ounces) pork, finely sliced
Rice, to serve
Pickled ginger, to serve
Green salad, to serve (optional)
Combine the ginger, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add the pork, frying on one side until browned. Turn over, then add the ginger mixture and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer the pork until it is cooked through, then remove from the heat.
Serve with rice and pickled ginger, and a green salad, if desired.
Adapted from “A Day in Tokyo” by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng

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