The adventure: Yeah yeah, I know. I've already done Korea. BUT I came across the spicy minced pork from Korea in a morning email and it looked so flipping yummy that I decided to double stamp my adventure passport on Korea. Pretty sure they won't mind. To be fully transparent, the original recipe was in the New York Times, and I don't have a subscription, so opening that specific recipe required a click more than I'm qualified for, but a few minutes online searching the dish Mapo Ragu and I found one that looks even better.

Pre-adventure Jitters: If you haven't noticed by now, I love Asian cuisine. All of it. It's just a massive yum all around. So there are no jitters, no anxiety at all. I've already tried the Szechuan peppercorns, so the little bit of burn doesn't phase me in the slightest. I'm just counting down the minutes to eating a shameful amount of Korean food. No joke...shameful amount. Soooo…armed with the recipe from A Pinch of Saffron, and a drool bucket, the adventure begins.

The Adventure: I'm pretty much set for ingredients on this one. Swapping broccoli for bimi, cause we all know bimi isn't happening in Western PA. I already have ground pork from the local butcher in the freezer. Peppercorns are still left from the last recipe that needed them (note to self: use spicy peppercorns more). The only problem ingredient is a doozy...gochujang. I don't have time to drive to Pittsburgh to scavenge the Asian shops for this bad boy, sooo I cheated. I'm hanging my head in Amazon shame. But armed with everything I need, I start the slicing, dicing, and spooning.

Yup, you read that right spooning. One of the best kitchen hacks I've ever learned is how to skin ginger. Take the edge of a spoon and rub it back and forth along the ginger and it'll scrape the entire skin off. Slicker than snot. Oh, wait...I probably shouldn't use snot in a recipe blog. Haha! The only potential uh-oh in the process is that if the spoon slips and rams into your finger, it hurts like a son of gun. So I grab my spoon with a vice like grip and spoon my ginger, then grate it on my massive metal cheese grater, praying to the kitchen gods that I don't loose any skin in the process. Mhm...you all know what I mean. Those graters have a mind of their own! 

I get everything prepped, and read through the recipe. It says at the top 30 minutes cook, so I'm in good shape to eat on time. Buuutttt as I'm reading...something seems off. Couple minutes to heat up the oil, 8 minutes on the onions, then another 20 minutes on the onions, then another 5 or so for the garlic and ginger once the meat has been added to the finished onions, then another 8 minutes cooking with the broccoli in the mix. So I'm no whiz at math, but last time I checked 2+8+20+5+8 is more than 30. It's no big deal, but I'm STARVING! It all goes without event until I get to the sauce. I measure out my soy sauce, sugar, peppercorns, water, and finish it off with the gojuchang, which came in a squeeze bottle. Yup...I think you know where this is going. Squeeze one, fine. Squeeze two, great. Squeeze three...well...shit...that's unfortunate. I really hope this isn't super spicy, cause there's NO putting that extra bit back.

With the recipe proceeding event free from the unfortunate incident of the chili paste, I get it plated and dive in. It smells heavenly. You definitely smell the chili in a combination that's a delight to my nose. The taste? Oh my. Seriously delicious. It says it serves 2 to 3. It serves one. One really big piggy. This recipe is definitely going in the binder of things to make again. On to the next adventure!

The recipe 

The Recipe - Mapo Ragu

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 3 TBSP vegetable or peanut oil
• 2 large onions, peeled and sliced
• pinch of sea salt, or to taste
• 1 pound ground pork
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 TBSP gochujang (Korean chili bean paste)
• 1 TBSP light soy sauce
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• 2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (optional) - roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle (mine came in a grinder, so yay!)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 bunch bimi (one stalk of broccoli) roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions

Instructions

• Steam or cook the rice as mentioned on the packaging
• Heat the oil in a heavy based pan set over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add the onions and the pinch of salt
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have released their moisture and are starting to brown, approximately 8 minutes
• Then turn the heat down to low, and continue to cook, stirring every few minutes, until they have turned golden brown and sweet, an additional 20 minutes or so.
• While the onions are sauteeing, you can start preparing the rest.
• In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients: gojuchang, soy sauce, sugar, Szechuan peppercorns, and water. Set aside.
• Add a tablespoon of oil to a wok and then add the pork.
• Cook the meat, breaking it up with a spoon, until it is just cooked, but not yet browning, approximately 10 minutes
• Add the cooked meat to the onions and set aside.
• Return wok to stove over medium heat and cook the garlic and ginger in fat remaining from pork (add an extra splash of neutral oil if necessary).
• When the garlic and ginger soften, add the sauce mix and stir through.
• Return the meat and onions mixture to the wok and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Bring sauce to a simmer and add the chopped broccoli, then stir to combine and cook until they have started to soften, approximately 7-8 minutes.
• Serve the ragu with steamed rice and garnish with the sliced scallions.