This is one of our favorite Korean dishes, one of my favorite pork recipes period. I’ve made it every year for one friend’s birthday for years, until she moved away. But I’ll have leftovers ready when I see her tomorrow! The prep work is pretty simple, once you have all the sauce ingredients on hand and it cooks quickly.

With three different forms of Korean chili peppers in it, it’s definitely spicy – that lovely sweet, complex spicy that makes Korean food sooo delicious. Even friends who don’t always like spicy food usually admit it’s worth it for this recipe. I just serve it with plenty of rice or with some milk on the side to tame the fire. 🙂

Several of the primary seasonings in Korean food are pretty easy to find – garlic, green onions, soy sauce, ginger. The ones that are less common in American grocery stores are still easy to store pantry ingredients once you find them: Korean chili powder, korean chili paste (gochujang), toasted sesame oil, rice wine, mirin, etc.

Note: If you can’t get fresh Korean chilies for this dish, feel free to substitute jalapenos or hotter if you like. But you do need the Korean chili powder and paste to get the right sauce. I store both in the fridge to keep them as fresh as possible.

 Jeyuk Bokkeum

• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 14 oz. pork
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned (cut into large “matchstick” slices)
• 2 green onions
• 1/2 red chili, finely sliced
• 1/2 green chili, finely sliced

sauce ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang chili paste
• 2 Tbsp. mirin or rice wine
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. Korean chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 spring onion, white / pale green part only, finely minced

1.  Start by mixing together the sauce ingredients and slicing the meat and vegetables. The recipe cooks quickly once you start, so you don’t want to risk over-cooking the meat and vegetables while you mix up the sauce. If your gochujang is very thick, you can add extra water or rice wine to thin it to sauce consistency.
2. Heat your wok or a large skillet and add oil, then mix in the meat and vegetables (except for the sliced green onions). Cook, stirring regularly to cook evenly.
3. When pork is lightly browned, add the sauce and stir to coat thoroughly. Cook until pork is done (not more than a few minutes). Top with thinly sliced green onions and serve with rice – and miso or dumpling soup to help cut the spiciness, if needed.