This braised pork and pumpkin is just another ordinary homey Japanese dish, yet it made me broke my vow — not buying raw meat — and I may again go against my words, since it is so DELICIOUS!
It all started from an Instagram post from a local farm: a great offer, a £17.5 Sunday roast box including 1 kg boneless pork loin, a crown prince pumpkin, a broccoli, and some soil-attached parsnips, potatoes and carrots.
Part of the pork turned into roast and paired with an Asian slaw; part of it braised with this gorgeous Crown prince pumpkin in a Japanese miso sauce.
I can’t praise the pumpkin enough: sweet, nutty, tastes like chestnut! So I used a remarkable amount of it in this recipe. Once braise, some pumpkin melts to the sauce and thickens up. The sauce and pumpkin are really the ones you go after, not the pork.
Now, let’s see how to cook it.
Miso Braised Pork and Pumpkin Recipe
To me, the most difficult part is to cut open the pumpkin. Once done, the remaining part is pretty straight forward and easy. Remember to cook the rice! You’ll find the sauce irresistible!
Ingredients
Serves 2-3
- 250 g pork loin
- marinade
- ¼ tsp salt
- black pepper
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp potato starch
- 2 tsp oil
- marinade
- 300 g pumpkin
- 4 large mushroom
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ thumb-sized ginger
For the Sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp miso
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 rice bowl of water
How to Make
- Marinate the pork first: Cut the pork into appropriate bite-sized pieces and marinate with the ingredients listed above. Cover and leave it in fridge for at least an hour.
- Cut the pumpkin: Pumpkin takes effort to take, so do measure in the time required. Peel and cut it into chunks; remove the seeds; wrap the remaining, and save in the fridge. You can also freeze it as well.
- Prep the vegs: Quarter the mushrooms; slice the onion; chop the garlic and ginger.
- Fry the aromatics: Heat a tbsp of neutral oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the onions, ginger, and garlic until the onions take on some colour.
- Cook the pork: Throw in the pork to cook until they are nicely coloured. Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Add in vegs: Now, add the mushrooms and pumpkin, together with a pinch of salt.
- Braising: Pour in the sauce; cover and turn down to low heat; simmer for about 10 to 12 mins.
- Tasting: Have a taste and adjust accordingly. If the sauce looks too soupy for you, mash some pumpkins to thicken the base. Serve with hot steamed rice and enjoy!
