This recipe is a great way of using up all the extra ginger you have lying around in your pantry.
But even with this formula guaranteeing the Quick, the Easy and the Tasty, I fear getting stuck in a rut. Some weekends, then, are made for experiments in the kitchen, for raiding your pantry and grabbing the lesser used items.
Which is how I came about this ginger onion stir fry. Given a choice, I would rather use garlic and shallots, so much so that I fear I am becoming predictable.
Ginger typically ends up in a mug of hot water with lemon and honey, to ward off the cold on rainy days. Onions are indispensable for a pot of ABC soup, both for the flavour and to balance the meatiness of the spare ribs.
But I find little use for them otherwise. Till now.
The white sesame seeds lend a delicate nutty aroma.
You’d want big or yellow onions for this recipe rather than red ones or shallots.
Do note that you’d want big or yellow onions for this recipe rather than red ones or shallots; the latter can be too sharp. You want this dish to be sweet and savoury rather than acidic.
Here, I have used pork shoulder as a nod to the inspiration for this dish – buta no shogoyaki. In Japan, beef is sometimes also used but pork is the default protein here, so much so that shogoyaki alone (shoga meaning pork and yaki, frying or grilling) generally refers to the pork version.
Given this isn’t authentic shogoyaki (I’ve omitted sake in the marinade and included sesame oil, to amp up the nutty flavour), any protein of choice – pork, beef, chicken or even vegetarian/vegan options such as firm tofu or tempeh – will work.
Slicing them thinly (but not so thinly that they fall apart in the wok) will speed up both the marinating and cooking time.
If you don’t have any white sesame seeds handy, you could replace them with black sesame seeds in a pinch. I wouldn’t, if only because I associate black sesame seeds with Cantonese tong sui such as zi ma wu (black sesame soup).
Serve this stir fry with some Japanese style greens or salad on the side.
Besides hot and fluffy steamed rice (a must!), consider serving this stir fry with some Japanese style vegetables or salad on the side, such as some goma-ae or Japanese sesame salad. We have to get our greens in our diet somehow, right?
Ingredients
1 medium-sized nub of fresh ginger, grated (retain both juice and fibres)
3 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
500g pork shoulder or belly, thinly sliced (other meat or firm tofu will work too)
Neutral cooking oil
½ medium yellow onion, sliced
Lightly toasted white sesame seeds, for garnishing