While this was last night’s Nosh, I had a couple of people ask for the recipe so I thought I would share today. I doubled the recipe below, using 1 negi (a really large Japanese green onion… it’s a couple of feet long) in place of the “bunching onion”. Since my chili paste already had garlic in it, I skipped adding the grated garlic to mixture A, and I used Hoisin as that’s what I had on hand.

For the greens, since I had swung by the Japanese market, I picked up a bunch of komatsuna, which looks similar to regular-sized spinach. After making the pork belly and putting it aside in a bowl, I wiped any piece of onion left behind from the wok, so it wouldn’t burn, but left the chili-and-pork-laced oil that I hadn’t drained in the wok. I added a bit of extra oil to ensure the leaves would get coated, then I tossed the thoroughly-dried leaves into the wok with some salt and pepper. In less than a minute they became bright green, and I added a bit of garlic black bean paste (~ regular-sized spoonful), about 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and a drizzle of sesame oil. I quickly tossed those around in the wok to evenly cover the leaves, and then pulled the leaves out into their own bowl.

Finally, I plated it on a bowl of Nishiki rice, keeping the pork belly separate from the greens so I could enjoy both flavors separately, then together as I got closer to the bottom of the bowl. Little prep + quick cooking + happy taste buds = One of the best weeknight meals ever (even if it was the end of the weekend…)!

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Dinner by Courtney