Bowl Food: Asian Marinated Skillet Roasted Pork, Carrot & Kimchi Brown Rice Bowl
Sticky charred meat is definitely a weak spot for me. When you look at that pork, how can you not swoon? It's like candy, but like meaty adult candy. That could be misconstrued...I just mean it's delicious and I'd probably take it over candy any day.
My sister recently made a bahn mi with grilled pork in a similar marinade, which served as my flavor inspiration. I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich, just wanted to throw a bunch of good stuff in a bowl; hence, bowl food. Don't get me wrong, I love me a sammich...but sometimes I like to use silverware and not make a mess. Enter: bowl food.
Bowl food makes for a pretty versatile setup, allowing you to add or subtract ingredients at your own discretion. In this particular recipe, broccoli and mushrooms would be great additions, for example. And the marinade would be great on shrimp or chicken, too. If you're digging the bowl food scene, check out this Chipotle BBQ Veggie & Brown RIce Bowl on MinneappleEats, too.
Asian Marinated Skillet Roasted Pork, Kimchi & Carrot Brown Rice Bowl
Serves: 2-3
Preparation Time: 60 minutes
For the marinade:
3-4 green onions, ends trimmed and cut into 1-in. pieces
1 tbsp. fresh ginger paste or minced
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. light oil (I used a canola-coconut blend)
1 tsp. chili oil or Sriracha
1 tsp. honey
dash of coarse salt
For the dish:
3/4-1 lb. thin-cut boneless pork loin tenders
1 c. brown rice
1.5 c. water
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. light oil
1 c. kimchi, chopped
3 carrots, thinly sliced into medallions (a mandolin works well for this)
Sriracha & dark sweet soy sauce, to serve
Method:
1. Place all marinade ingredients in a food processor and process until it comes together as a sauce. It will be thick, but definitely pourable. Place pork in a deep bowl and pour marinade in, making sure to cover the pork as much as possible. Let marinate in refrigerator for about 2 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a large cast iron skillet in the oven to heat. Bring water and soy sauce to a boil in a sauce pot. Add brown rice, bring back to a boil and then immediately turn heat down to low and cover. Let simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the water has been absorbed, but the rice still has a bit of firmness to it still. Remove from heat and keep covered.
3. Once cast iron skillet is hot, remove from oven and set over high heat on the stove. Add pork tenders along with the marinade to the hot skillet and brown on each side. Then add back to oven to roast for about 15 more minutes or until cooked through and nicely browned. Remove from the oven and keep warm. The marinade will turn into a caramelly sauce, which I rubbed onto the pork when I took it out of the oven.
4. While pork is roasting and rice is cooking, heat oil in a large saute pan or wok. Add carrots and stir fry for a few minutes over high heat. Add in kimchi and continue to stirfry until carrots and kimchi are brown, maybe even slightly charred at the edges.
5. To assemble, feel free to cut the pork into smaller bite-sized slices. Put a serving of rice in a bowl and top with the pork, carrots and kimchi. Drizzle with Sriracha sauce and sweet dark soy, if desired.
