Delicious Korean Ground Pork - super easy to make and packed with flavour. Perfect with a simple side or make it a bowl with a variety of yummy components.
Korean Pork
I can't get enough of Korean inspired food lately, I just love the flavours. The most simple of ingredients can be turned into a delicious dish with some typical ingredients like Korean Gochuang paste, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.
I enjoy trying different cuisines and experimenting with ingredients and food like this is definitely one of my favourites.
Sourcing Ingredients for different Cuisines
For most cuisines, the majority of ingredients are staples with all have in our pantry cupboard or fridge, but occasionally their may be a unique ingredient to source for the authentic flavour.
Some larger grocery stores may have an International Aisle, so you may be lucky enough to find some ingredients there.
Also Look for specialist markets in your area - most major cities will have an Asian grocery store or market and you will find most of the typical ingredients there.
The next best option is online. Amazon is great for sourcing those hard to find ingredients but there are also smaller websites too for ingredients.
I am really lucky to have a huge indoor World Market near me, they have aisle and aisles of products from all over world, so if I need a specific ingredients, that is the place I go.
What is Gochujang Paste?
This is the ingredient in this recipe that you may find hard to source and so you may be wondering what actually is Gochujang Paste?
Gochujang Paste is a pretty important ingredient in Korean Cooking. It is a thick and spicy red paste usually made from fermented soybean, chili powder, glutinous rice, malt powder, and salt. It adds a great umami taste to recipes and is well worth sourcing if you can.
Substitutes for Gochujang Paste
There isn't really a like for like replacement for these delicious paste. But if you have searched high and low and can't find it anywhere but really want to use this recipe, then my suggestion would be a mixture of tomato paste (puree) and some sriracha.
How much you want to use will depend on your spice level. I like 2 tablespoons of the paste, but for kids who can't handle too much heat, you may want to just go for one.
So i would use a mix of equal amounts of tomato paste and sriracha.
Can I use another meat in this recipe?
Any ground meat will work in this - pork, chicken, turkey or beef. I wouldn't recommend lamb as it's too strong a taste and will overpower the other ingredients.
You can also use some pork or chicken pieces if you prefer. But depending on how much you use you may need to adjust the sauce ingredients.
Sides for Korean Ground Pork
This is where you can get really adventurous and turn this simple recipe into a delicious bowl with lots of yummy components.
My favourites are as follows:
- White Rice (I love the Kokuho Rose brand)
- Carrot Stick
- Spicy Garlic Napa Cabbage (click for recipe)
- Pickled Daikon Radish (the bright yellow item in my bowl) - this is a popular Korean item. Look for it at Asian grocers that specialize in Korean foods. You can also make your own if you can source some daikon radish.
- Kimchi - this is another great item to serve with this. I didn't have any on this occasion as I had cooked the garlic napa cabbage instead.
- Nori Seaweed - crumble a few small sheets and sprinkle onto your rice for some added flavour. Yummy!!
Wondering how you cook perfect Jasmine Rice?
Simply just rinse 1 cup of jasmine rice, then add to a pan with 2 cups of water, bring to a boil,and when water is just about absorbed, turn off heat, add lid and leave for 10 minutes (do not stir or touch until then) - the result is perfect fluffy rice every time.
More Asian Recipes
Love Asian food? Check out these other recipes:
- Bulgogi Beef
- Asian Beef Bowl
- Chilli Beef Noodles
- Malaysian Butternut Squash Curry
- Singapore Chicken Noodles
- Satay Chicken
- Chinese Chicken Curry
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes and can search by ingredients, course, diet and more.
All with estimated calories, Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers Smart Points values.
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Recipe Card
Korean Ground Pork
Korean Ground Pork - super easy to make and packed with flavour. Perfect with a simple side or make it a bowl with a variety of yummy components.
Ingredients
- 455g (1lb) of extra lean ground pork (can also use chicken, turkey or beef)
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of grated ginger root
- 2 tablespoon of Gochujang Paste (use 1 if you don't like food too spicy)
- 2 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup of water
- 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
- pinch of sesame seeds
- 2 green onions (spring onions) sliced
- Spray oil
Instructions
- Add the ground pork to a frying pan over a medium high heat and cook until browned, breaking up any large clumps as it cooks. Remove and set aside.
- Spray the pan with cooking oil spray, add the onion and fry until lightly golden and softened.
- Add in the garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute.
- Add back in the ground pork, along with the Gochujang paste, soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil and water and cook until it reduces down and coats all the ground pork and starts to caramelize on the edges.
- Sprinkle with a pinch of toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions
- Serve with your favourite sides.
- Enjoy!!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 243Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gCholesterol 17mgSodium 641mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 2gSugar 11gProtein 26g
Nutritional information, values, points etc are an estimate and are to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. It is always advised that you calculate by the ingredients you use.
Paula says
Wonderful! Used sugar free maple syrup so I made it low carb friendly!
Anita says
Followed recipe exactly but just added some chopped bok Choy. This meal was so good! So quick! And so easy! I served with rice. This is definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Jo says
Can this be frozen once cooked
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yes this is fine to freeze.
jessica says
This is awesome, I like to add Green Onions, Lime, Cilantro and Toasted Sesame Seeds for the final product, so delicious, can't believe more people haven't commented.!!
5 stars!
Jane Walker says
Fantastic recipe, easy to cook and very tasty
Steven says
I made this delicious recipe and used it in a dolsot bowl. The dolsot bowl was heated up with a layer of rice, with the pork added along with grated carrot, bean sprouts, sautéed broccoli, avocado (non-traditional Korean, I know 🙂 ), cilantro, a fried egg and sriracha. The crispy rice was perfect with the spicy pork and veggies! Yum! Thank you.
Debbie says
Delish!
I served with coconut rice, cucumbers and shredded carrots. Will definitely make again!
Marian Hughes says
I made this las night absolutely *AMAZING* everybody loved this and it is now on the regular meal list. Thanks so much Siobhan !! xx
Lisa Andree says
I made this vegan with Impossible Burger ground sausage. Served it with rice noodles a veggie side of stir fried daikon radish & cabbage. Was delish!
Julie says
I cannot find gochujang paste. Is there a substitute you can suggest?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
It’s rather a unique taste so not really a like for like substitute. Where abouts do you live? It’s available at all major supermarkets well as Amazon.
Janet McKenzie says
Can you use gochujang sauce instead of paste?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Sauce won’t yield as rich of a flavour and colour, it’s best to use the paste for this recipe.
Jen says
One of my absolute favourite recipes. This is one of very few recipes that I don't need to 'tweak', it's perfect as it is. I serve it with spicy napa cabbage (see suggested recipes for side dishes, I use 'chinese leaf' as that's what is available in the UK) and plain jasmine rice.
Lester says
Made today. It is absolutely delicious as is!
Christy Fiero says
Terrific recipe! I served it in lettuce cups.. fantastic!
MARY says
5 star! So easy and quick. Highly recommend.
Philly says
gochujang sauce has to be used and not subbed. It is available in small amounts or large tubs...stores easy and is so versatile...not expensive but deepens the flavours.
it is a staple in my pantry and used in many many recipes... this recipe is a winner btw
Beth says
Hi! How much is 1 serving? I couldn't find anything on the recipe 🙁
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
The recipe shows yield (servings) in the recipe box. This recipe serves 4, so divide into 4 equal portions for one serving