Recipe of the week – Bulgogi Braised Pork Shoulder

Heather Dosman, chef de cuisine, Culina Muttart

Pork shoulder Braise

  • 2 T canola oil
  • 2 Kg local pork shoulder (try your local farmers market!)
  • 1 diced onion
  • ¼ c salt
  • ¼ c sugar
  • 2 t paprika
  • 1 t sambal
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 L water

Preheat oven to 200 F.

In a 6-8 L pot (with a lid) heat canola oil over medium heat. Pan-sear all sides of pork shoulder until lightly browned.

Mix together the next 7 ingredients, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add this mixture to the pot with the pork and bring mixture to a simmer. Put lid on the pot and place in the oven for 6-8 hours ( or overnight) until it is fall-apart tender.

Strain the pork from the braising liquid (reserve any leftover braising liquid to make a soup with). When cool enough to handle pull the pork apart using tongs or 2 forks, discarding any gristle or unwanted fat. Keep refrigerated until needed.

Bulgogi Sauce

  • ½ onion, diced
  • 1 T minced garlic
  • 1 T minced ginger
  • 1 T sambal
  • ½ c brown sugar
  • ¼ c rice vinegar
  • 1 ½ c tamari (or soy sauce)
  • ½ c canola oil

In a food processor, puree onions, garlic, and ginger together until finely minced. Add brown sugar, sambal, rice vinegar, and tamari, and blend in the food processor at a slow setting. Slowly pour the canola oil into the mixture, and allow to emulsify. Adjust seasoning to taste. Refrigerate until needed.

To serve:

kimchi *

6 – 8 green onion cakes (depends on your pork to cake ratio)**

In a large frying pan on medium heat, heat up 4 T canola oil. Once the oil is hot, fry green onion cakes until golden brown, flip to the other side and repeat (to ensure even cooking, try not to fry too many at a time)

Mix braised pork with the bulgogi sauce to your own preference (some people like it saucy) and heat on low heat in a pot —add a little water if necessary to prevent burning.

Take fried green onion cakes and top with the pork mixture. Add kimchi, green onions, and anything else you like. We like toasted sesame seed and sambal at Culina.

*We make our own kimchi at the restaurant, but you can find it at some farmers market and most supermarkets.

** We get our green onion cakes from Genghis Foods, our local green onion cake masters. They can also be found at most supermarkets.