Recipe: Spicy Korean Pork and Kimchi

Tradition is a guide and not a jailer. – W. Somerset Maugham

Very easy to adjust the heat in this. The sour of the kimchi is
an unusual, and delicious, introduction.

I hope you all had a great holiday full of the traditions your family loves. 

For many of us this is the first normal day back. Yesterday doesn’t count as "normal” in Nova Scotia because everything is shut up the same as on Christmas Day. 

Marinate the pork for at least 1/2 hour.

Because of this second no-shopping day I believe we have started a family tradition in our household: Asian Food Boxing Day. A few years running makes for tradition, right?

There’s reasons this new tradition makes sense to us. First, it’s about as far away from turkey leftovers as you can get. Second, it’s fast and third, unless you want turkey leftovers it’s about all you can get your hands on in Halifax.

Nova Scotia is one of the few places in Canada where stores are not allowed to be open on Boxing Day. Our Boxing Day Sales are actually on the 27th. Strange, don’t you think? It seems the entire rest of the world is open for business but not Nova Scotia.

I suppose, it gives many families who have to travel far one more day to be together before dispersing again, some until the next big holiday at Easter, or even Canada Day in July.

Not even grocery stores are allowed to be open on December 26. So if it wasn’t for our hardworking immigrant grocery operators I bet many of us would be eating leftovers on Boxing Day.

But not us. Everything for this recipe is readily available at any Asian grocery, except for the ‘regular” items like onions, pork, etc, although larger ones will have those too.

It’s a refreshing change from the heavy, European holiday fare of turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. They’re good, but I wouldn’t want to have them over and over.

I guess that’s what makes Asian Boxing Day food such a good idea!

Spicy Korean Pork and Kimchi

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook 15 min  |  Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb pork loin, thinly sliced

1 cup kimchi, bite sized

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, julienned

for the marinade

1 to 4 tbsp chilli paste

1 tbsp sesame oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp powdered garlic

1 tbsp powdered ginger

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Combine the marinade ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. Remember more chilli paste means hotter so use your own discretion. I used 2 tablespoons.

Slice the pork and toss with the sauce. Let marinate for 1/2 to 1 hour.

Heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok. Fry the pork in two batches until it is no longer pink. This should take about 4-5 minutes per batch. Remove to a bowl.

Slice the carrot and chop the onion. Add to the wok with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Then add the kimchi and fry for another minute or two. 

Add the pork back to the wok and let cook until heated through.

Serve with white jasmine rice.

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