Miso Ginger Pork 味噌生姜焼き

This Miso Ginger Pork recipe is a perfect balance of Japanese flavors! The umami-rich and salty miso combined with spicy ginger and sweet mirin complement the juicy and succulent sliced pork. Serve with steamed rice to enjoy this popular home-cooked dish.

When you start cooking Japanese food at home, you will quickly learn that there are five essential condiments. Today’s Miso Ginger Pork (味噌しょうが焼き) uses four of them: soy sauce, mirin, sake, and miso (leaving out rice vinegar). If you already love ginger pork, this Miso Ginger Pork takes the dish to the next level of deliciousness!

Tired of Ginger Pork? Try Miso Ginger Pork 

I often receive emails and messages from readers who don’t know what to do with the remaining miso in the back of their refrigerators. They often buy a tub of miso to cook with just one or two dishes and do not know what else to do.

My quick response would be to make Miso Soup every time you serve a Japanese dish with steamed rice. But if you want more ideas, I suggest using miso to season meat and fish. You’ll be surprised at the depth of flavor that miso adds to everything you stir it into.

The typical Ginger pork, or Shogayaki in Japanese, is thinly sliced pork loin sautéed with ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. It is one of my favorite go-to dishes as I love the combination of all these flavors. It is also super easy to put together and is guaranteed to hit the dinner table in about 15 minutes.

If you have a tub of miso in your refrigerator right now, you can utilize this all-purpose ingredient by incorporating it with the rest of the seasonings for Miso Ginger Pork. A spoonful is all it takes to make the classic home-cooked dish special.

Remember that miso can burn easily, so I don’t recommend marinating the meat for this dish. Make sure the pork is cooked through first before you pour in the sauce.

Use Hikari Miso® Organic Miso to Make Miso Ginger Pork

Are you new to Japanese condiments and not sure what brand of miso to buy? My recommendation is Hikari Miso. I wish someone had told me about this brand when I first came to the U.S. Instead, I purchased, tasted, and tested different brands of miso that were available in my local Japanese grocery stores for several years until I finally discovered Hikari Miso. It is undeniably my favorite go-to brand when it comes to miso paste.

I’ve been using their miso every day for almost a decade and cannot speak more favorably for their miso pastes. Click here to read more about miso.

I used Hikari Miso Organic Miso (White Miso) for this Miso Ginger Pork recipe. White miso is the most common paste in the U.S., and its mild flavor pairs well with any dishes and soups. If you have other types of miso – like red or dashi miso – you can still use what you have for today’s recipe.

How to Grate Ginger

Grating ginger can be a tedious task, which is why I like to use my Kyocera Advanced Grater that I’ve owned for over a decade and love! It makes grating so much easier and the raised central plate allows the ginger juice to gather. It’s the best way to grate ginger, in my opinion, and you can get it on Amazon for $30.

Helpful Tips and Substitutes

With some planning, this Miso Ginger Pork could be your reliable dinner option. If you prepare steamed rice, miso soup, shredded cabbage (or any salad) ahead of time, you can assemble this dish in 15 minutes or even less.

Even though it’s such a simple dish to make, here are some tips and substitute information which I hope it’s helpful for you:

• Miso gets burnt easily. It’s always good to remember this. Like honey, miso almost always burns easily in the heat. Therefore, I do not recommend adding miso to the marinade for this dish. But if you want to add miso to the marinade, remove/wipe off the marinade completely before you pan fry.

• Use thinly sliced meat. For this dish,  you want to use thinly sliced meat so the flavors soak through the meat just fine without marinating. It can be pork loin or pork belly, whichever you can get. Japanese, Korean, and Chinese grocery stores carry thinly sliced meat, but if you can’t find them at your local store, you can cut them thinly by yourself.

• Substitute for Pork/Sake/Mirin. Although this classic dish uses pork, you can use other protein choices or vegetables. Chicken, beef, shrimp, mushrooms, or eggplants are some examples that would go well with the sauce. For sake and mirin substitution, read this post for detailed information.

To enjoy the juicy, succulent piece of miso-glazed ginger pork, serve it with steamed rice, shredded cabbage, cucumber, and tomatoes. Okawari (another serving) is guaranteed!

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Miso Ginger Pork

4.74 from 50 votes

This Miso Ginger Pork recipe is a perfect balance of Japanese flavors! The umami-rich and salty miso combined with spicy ginger and sweet mirin complement the juicy and succulent sliced pork. Serve with steamed rice to enjoy this popular home-cooked dish.

Print Pin

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ lb thinly sliced pork loin (find it at a Japanese market or you can slice meat thinly at home)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp neutral oil

For the Marinade

• ▢ 2 inches ginger (grated; separate the juice from the grated ginger)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp sake
• ▢ ½ Tbsp soy sauce

For the Seasonings

• ▢ 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp sake
• ▢ 1 Tbsp mirin
• ▢ 1 Tbsp miso (I used Hikari Miso® Organic White Miso)
• ▢ 1 tsp sugar

To Serve (optional)

• ▢ ¼ head green cabbage (shredded)
• ▢ ¼ Japanese or Persian cucumber (sliced)
• ▢ 6 cherry tomatoes

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients.
  

To Marinate the Meat

• Grate 2 inches ginger. Squeeze out the ginger juice and add it to a bowl or tray for marinating the pork. Set aside 1 tsp grated ginger to use later.
  
• To the ginger juice, add 1 Tbsp sake and ½ Tbsp soy sauce. Then, add ½ lb thinly sliced pork loin.
  
• Flip and coat the pork with the marinade. Set aside.
  

To Cook the Miso Ginger Pork

• In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the seasonings: 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 Tbsp miso, and 1 tsp sugar.
  
• Add 1 tsp grated ginger and mix well. Set aside.
  
• Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in a large frying pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the meat in a single layer and allow it to sear. For an even sear, it’s best not to touch or move the meat around. 
  
• Flip the meat and cook the other side until no longer pink. Then, add the seasonings mixture to the pan.
  
• Coat the meat with the sauce using a spoon. Flip once to make sure the meat is seasoned on both sides.
  

To Serve

• Serve immediately. If you‘d like, shred ¼ head green cabbage and slice ¼ Japanese or Persian cucumber and divide, along with 6 cherry tomatoes, onto individual plates of Miso Ginger Pork. Serve it with a salad dressing of your choice, such as Japanese Sesame Dressing.

To Store

• You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.

Nutrition

Calories: 294 kcal · Carbohydrates: 14 g · Protein: 29 g · Fat: 11 g · Saturated Fat: 7 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 75 mg · Sodium: 722 mg · Potassium: 811 mg · Fiber: 4 g · Sugar: 8 g · Vitamin A: 379 IU · Vitamin C: 54 mg · Calcium: 64 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: ginger pork, miso

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