I hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day with your family members. We celebrated at a restaurant in Half Moon Bay and my husband Shen will write his second restaurant review soon. If you haven’t checked his first review on Navio at Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay Brunch, please click here to read. A friend of ours went to Navio for brunch today and had made-to-order lobster which she said was amazing. We completely missed it on our brunch so make sure you try it when you visit.
Since I feel like I haven’t shared many Japanese dishes lately, I’m planning to post Japanese meals more frequently in the coming posts. You will see some traditional dishes, some appetizers with uncommon ingredient (at least in the US), and some Western meals that became a part of common Japanese meals.
Today I want share Ginger Pork, one of the most common pork dishes we make at home and commonly offered in Japanese restaurants in the US. It’s very easy to cook and I hope you like it. Happy Monday!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb sliced pork for Sukiyaki
- 1 green onion for garnish, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. grated ginger
- 1/4 onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 Tbsp. sake
- 3 Tbsp. mirin
- 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. sugar
Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, grate onion and ginger. Combine all the ingredients for Seasonings in the bowl. It's hard to grate 1/4 onion, so I cut onion in half and then grate about 1/4 of onion.
- Add sliced pork in the bowl and mix (rub) with your hands. You can keep in the fridge to marinade for a long time or 10-15 minutes is okay too, especially if your meat is thin. Look at how thin the Sukiyaki sliced pork is… the pork for Shabu Shabu is even thinner.
- In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil on medium-high heat. Put the meat one by one in a single layer to we can brown the meat. Even though we have to do in batches, cooking time is fast as the meat is very thin.
- Transfer the meat to a serving plate and garnish with green onion. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Hi, I'm Nami. Thanks for stopping by Just One Cookbook. You can read little bit more about me 


{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
Uhm…. I think ginger is a perfect combination with pork, ’cause it dims the pork’s fat!
This marinade is very tempting!
Nami, I love all the Japanese pork dishes and you have so many pork recipes on your blog! I am happy we are both pork fans
This recipe will be the next I make (after the fantastic Teriyaki Pork and Potato rolls)! It looks even easier, but equally good. How long do you marinate the meat?
Hi Sissi, I just caught your question before going to bed.
You can marinate for a couple of hours or you can just marinate right before cooking. The meat is very thin, so you don’t really need to marinate for a longer time. I’ll update my recipe tomorrow morning. Thanks!
A great alternative to pan fried and grilled pork, the flavours on this dish is so lovely and refreshing I may say.
Nami, looks delicious as usual
Your family is so lucky! This looks so delicious and I love the simplicity of it!
One of my favourite Japanese ‘comfort food’ dishes
Yours look delicious!!
Look like you have a wonderful Father’s day with your husband and kids, good for you. This recipe also good to wrap with Vietnamese spring roll and a lot of vegetables, i bet it taste good too. Have a great week ahead.
So this is Shogayaki! The mirin and sake would make it more succulent and flavourful. I would definitely try this recipe. Each pice of pork is so perfectly cooked!
Love ginger pork – what a lovely day with your husband!
Mmm I love ginger! This sounds like such a tasty recipe and I love that it is easy and fast to make (you know lately I am in desperate need of fast recipes!!! hehehe)! Perfect for a midweek dinner!
This sounds so much like our favorite Korean pork bulgogi…yum, yum! I know we’d love this, Nami!! Sounds like your family had a wonderful Father’s Day
I don’t think I have tried ginger pork, sounds interesting
one of my favorites!
Wow this looks sooo good! I love ginger and it looks like this is recipe really showcases it!
I love this Japanese dish very much. It sounds so simple, easy and healthy! Of course, very delicious!
Delicious! You make it look so easy…I want to try this soon!
I love when you share your Japanese dishes! This one looks like it’s my kind of meal. Saved, because I plan to make it soon. Buzzed it too!
This is something that my whole family will love. We all love pork especially with sweet seasonings. Quick and easy dish, too. Very good for weekdays. Luckily, all the ingredients are available.
This looks delicious! I love ginger with pork. I posted an Asian pork dish today as well
I am going to save this one to try though, sounds like something we would really like.
I m so glad to learn japanese cooking from you Nami. I have been noticing that the ingredients are so less in number & strong flavors. I m a big ginger fan- add it on anything & everything under the earth.This dish looks awesome!
BTW..I tried miso salmon at Cheesecake factory this weekend after seeing that condiment in your blog- was addictive! Have a great week ahead!
This is my favorite dish for summer!
This sounds delicious and very similar to a pork dish our family loves. Cooking this must be quite fast with the thin slices of meat. Sounds like you all had a wonderful Father’s Day.
Yum Ginger Pork sounds great! I always just pan fry the shabu pork and eat it with daikon and ponzu. This looks like another great option!
This looks so yummy. My family loves pork and I can always use more yummy recipes like this one
Thanks for sharing Nami
Nami I love the simplicity of this dish…easy and fast…and so tasty.
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead
I’m glad your family had a nice Father’s Day!
The Chinese also have a ginger pork dish – a stir-fry of thin slices of pork in soy-based sauce then topped with crispy fried ginger “matchsticks”. I don’t think I have tried the Japanese version of ginger pork. But as long as it is ginger, it is going to taste quite good.
Wow this pork looks amazing! Love all the flavors. What a beautiful dish!
Pork with ginger .. sounds so delicious! Can i replace sake with wine ?
Hi Kankana! The closest thing is Chinese rice wine. White wine and sake tastes very different so I’m not sure what kind of flavor it will turn into with white wine (no red wine).
If you go to Chinese market, they have sake there. I don’t drink sake myself, and I’m not too sure which one to pick. So I usually pick “sake for cooking.” Some people might point to mirin and say that’s cooking sake, but it is not. The safest and closest bet is Chinese rice wine, I think.
Nami you know I love pork! Going to have to review your knife/cutting tips before I attempt this one and probably sharpen my knives. Really good recipe and I always look forward to your pictures.
This recipe looks delicious!!! Another one for me to mark down! Thanks for your previous comments as well, I really appreciate them!
Could you tell me what a traditional Japanese dessert would be? Something that would go great right after eating sushi! Japan has so many unique dinner meals, but I don’t really see many dessert items. Is dessert a big Japanese thing?
Hi Jeff! We don’t really have a dessert custom like we have here in the US. I grew up eating seasonal fruits after lunch or dinner. If you go to Japan and have a traditional meal, they don’t offer you a dessert menu. And even they have it, they only have a few items. For example, if you go to a Sushi bar, usually they might have seasonal fruits, Purin (creme caramel), and Matcha ice cream (green tea ice cream)…. something like that. Fruits in Japan are very expensive too… But once in a while we eat cake and other desserts after dinner.
Our traditional dessert (snack) is prepared to go with green tea, and we call it tea snack. We have manju, mochi, and all kinds of sweets made for afternoon tea. But I think you are talking more about American style dessert.
We do have huge sweets/bakery industry. Mostly we buy these desserts to bring to someone’s home or eat on special occasions. Here, you bring wine as a gift, but in Japan dessert is common. And if it’s Western/Westernized restaurant, they serve Western desserts. Japanese bakery has more European influence than American, so it’s more delicate kind of sweets. For example I barely see cupcakes and brownies in Japan. Sorry it became a long answer… I hope I answered to your question.
Hi Foodtopii! To cook Ginger Pork, a lot of people use sugar instead of mirin, but I prefer majority of sweetness coming from Mirin than sugar. So my ratio is more mirin than sugar. Each family has their own version; some don’t even put sugar/mirin at all. Ginger Pork is usually sweet soy sauce flavor. Mirin has lower alcohol content and has mainly sugar. So… you can replace (cooking) sake with Chinese rice wine, but if you replace mirin with alcohol, you have to know this dish will not be sweet at all (unless you increase the amount of sugar). Sorry if I made it too complicated…
yummy, pork with ginger great combination. Yours look very appetizing.
I love anything ginger in Japanese cuisine, weather its part of the recipe or preserved with vinegar, or the vinaigrette mackerel with grated ginger and shallots because it’s a great appetizer and I can see this recipe will taste awesome!
I do like my pork, but I don’t have it often, I used to get this bento all the time “miso shoga saba” it was really delish. I’m craving ume right now.
Another fabulous recipe Nami. All flavours I love. I have added oyster sauce so a similar dish before.
Mandy
Hi Nami, beautiful pork today!
Cookin’ Canuck and I would love if you linked up this recipe & any 2 other side dishes in this weeks Get Grillin’ event posted on both of our blogs. We have a fabulous Ile De France Cheese giveaway. You just need to link up on one site
http://su.pr/17fizq
I’m sure that Father’s Day celebration turned out great for Shen- with a lovely wife and adorable kids enjoying a delectable meal in a wonderful restaurant with him, what else could he ask for?!
Your Shogoyaki really sounds so easy to prepare, but looks so tasty. I hope I can give this a try soon!
I love how ginger can add such a punch to a dish! This sounds fabulous. So glad to hear you enjoyed celebrating Father’s Day.
Hmmm… I love any meat with ginger! In SG we have these dishes : pork/chicken/beef/deer/sliced fish stir-fry with ginger and green onions. Very nice!
Now I know another method to cook meat! My hubby is a meat-eater and can’t live w/o them! So I’ll always have to think of different ways to cook the meat, otherwise he’ll gets bored with the only few kinds I know and complain… lol
I am not really a pork eater but i sure know many people who are. Next time i have them over for lunch or dinner, i would try out this recipe and pray that it turns out half as good as yours
my Japanese neighbor and her friend taught me how to cook this dish love it the one Japanese dish i can cook he he
Nami – another great recipe!! And also, I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you on your 100th post. You’re a rockstar and an amazing cook!
This looks delicious and great for a weeknight meal. My kids always love any cut of meat that is thin like that, so I know they will like it. I always love all the dishes you share, but the Japanese ones are the ones I look forward to!
I am a HUGE fan of ginger! Love the flavors you have going on here! And I’m TOTALLY looking forward to the Japanese dishes you’ll have coming up soon. I hope you had a great Tuesday!
Yum! I can see this becoming a regular at our place for dinner
MMM!!! Nami!! What a wonderful reicpe. My son is a pork lover and I’m certain that this one would make him happy. It’s now on our list!!
Mmm. Those pork slices are perfectly caramelized…looks so good, Nami! Served over a bed of steamed rice…more perfection. Beautifully presented.
Nami, this looks woderful! ginger and pork = Yummy!! I love that combination.
Ginger pork the name itself sound so wonderful. And with all those ginger, onion and garlic I bet they are to die for.
Oh Nami this recipe is fantastic. I love ginger and I think it would add so much flavor to pork..sounds and looks amazing!
your gingered pork looks so very very good!! Would love to try it, I know my wife would love it with all that ginger!
Congrats on the top 9 today!
Hope you guys had a wonderful fathers day! Im looking forward to the review since the last one made me want to jump on a plane to go have brunch in San Fran! This pork looks so delicious!!! Beautiful photos, they make the dish SO appetizing!
What a simple and beautiful dish. This would work well for a busy weeknight or a special occasion.
Family Fresh Cooking and I would love if you linked up this recipe & any 2 other entrees in this weeks Get Grillin’ event posted on both of our blogs. We have a fabulous Ile De France Cheese giveaway. You just need to link up on one site. http://bit.ly/jjM7Qg
Hi Nami!
Do you cut the pork yourself or buy it already sliced thin? I’m wondering if Whole Foods would be able to cut it so thin for me.
Thanks!
Hi Laura! If you see my ingredient section, there is a link for the meat I bought. Japanese store sells thinly sliced meat for pork and beef. Some food bloggers told me that they freeze the meat (a little bit – still somewhat soft enough to cut) and slice on their own. Japanese food use thinly sliced meat most of the time and I know this can be a little bit hard when you don’t live close to a Japanese market… I asked American supermarket butcher for thinly sliced meat, but it was close to 1 cm, instead of 1 mm. LOL. I think the meat has to be frozen to be able to cut that thin…
I am sure I’d love this, I love the combo of soy sauce, mirin, garlic, ginger and sugar
!I am sure I’d recreate this dish at home
.
I really like simple and comforting meal like this. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely delicious! I’m so lucky to have a 99 Ranch Market and an H Mart in Houston, so it was easy to find the Sukiyaki sliced pork. They even label the package with the word “Sukiyaki” for us newbies. It is sliced thinner than all brands of prepackaged bacon, so it’s very easy to overcook. I heated my oil to medium hot, and it took less than 10 seconds on each side to fully cook the pork. Once it turns white, it’s done and it’s so tender. For an easy side dish, I cooked jasmine rice and added sauteed onion, garlic, and celery (all finely chopped) and a small amount of soy sauce. Thank you very much for posting the Ginger Pork, Nami. My next ventures will be your Yakisoba and Okonomiyaki. Just saying those names makes me feel like a chef!!!!
Hi Helen! I am glad you found a sliced pork package! Shabu shabu meat is even thinner, so be careful when you pick the meat. Yes, meat is so thin that cooking time is very short. You pretty much brown it and pour the sauce and done! Your side dishes look fantastic! I’m so happy you enjoyed the meal.
You can find Yakisoba noodle and Yakisoba sauce in 99 Ranch too. If you find Otafuku brand, that’s what I like best. Both are my favorite dish because I love sauce so much… if you also like Japanese mayonnaise, mix mayo and Okonomiyaki (or tonkatsu) sauce on a side of the dish, and dip Yakisoba/Okonomiyaki in this sauce…. My friend in Osaka told me that’s how you eat in Osaka area and I really love eating this way….
Enjoy!
Yes, more Japanese recipes please
I’m bookmarking for next week with stir fried veggies for a post 4th of July healthy meal! Have a safe and happy 4th!
I am so hungry looking at this! I was just in Japan a couple days ago, albeit just at Narita. Much nicer now than when I lived in Japan 20+ years ago. I was in Seoul and had the worst tonkatsu kare ever. Didn’t know it was possible to mess that up!
Hi Nami,
I made your recipe for ginger pork today, but I used the pork chops I had in my freezer. My oldest son, who is a very picky eater, said this recipe is a keeper. He loved, loved it!!!!!!! So it was a successful dinner. Both my sons enjoyed it.
Thank you! Have a great 4th of July.
Hi Susan! I’m so happy to hear your son loved it!!
Thank you so much for letting me know! I hope you had a great 4th of July.
Hi Nami
I made this ginger pork and put it in a miso soup with tofu, fishcake and noodles. It was delicious! I forgot to buy the ginger for the ginger pork:). I thought I had some at home but it was actually garlic. Wasn’t sure if clove of garlic is one segment or the big flower but I decided to go with one segment. The pork had a nice lightly sweetened flavor which contrasted the salty miso. Thanks for helping the kids and I eat this week.
Hi Angel – I’m so happy you enjoyed this dish! It’s great you adapted the recipe and everyone enjoyed it.
Thanks for giving me feedback. That really keeps me going!
Hi Nami- I love Pork Shogayaki very much and it is one of my all time favorite Japanese foods. But I always add the marinate to the fry pan and make it more like stir fry pork in ginger sauce:-). Not so authentic right? But the Japanese restaurants in Thailand serve that version!!
Hi Tataya! Even in Japan there are so many versions of Shogayaki, and I sometimes add the marinate in the pan and make it more saucy version too! So yours IS authentic!
Nami, I know this seems like a redundant, extremely ‘late’ comment but just popping in here to say how much I LOVE this recipe. Ever since you posted it, my kids love this dish so much that they now make it themselves, it’s so easy yet ridiculously tasty! Thank you. You’ve been such an inspiration to them.
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