Main ingredients 🥩
Pork neckFlourGarlicSoy sauceCheongjuMirinWorcestershire sauceButterCabbageLemon juice
Jang Ho-jun's Pork Neck Tonteki
This Japanese-style pork neck steak is made by coating thick pork neck in starch to seal in the juices, searing it, and then glazing it with a special soy sauce-based sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and butter until glossy.
🙋 Recommended for
- ⭐ Those who want to enjoy a special and exotic pork steak dish instead of plain grilled pork neck.
- ⭐ Those looking for the ultimate rice companion and upscale beer snack, coated in a sweet and savory sauce.
- ⭐ Those wanting to create a home party dish with a professional restaurant feel, featuring garlic-infused flavors and crispy garlic chips.
Ingredients needed 🛒2 servings
- 2 thick pork neck steaks
- Flour (or starch), as needed
- 1 cup thinly sliced garlic
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 head cabbage
- 0.5 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Salt, a pinch (for seasoning)
- Pepper, a pinch (for seasoning)
- [Sauce base] 3 tablespoons water, 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons cheongju, 3 tablespoons mirin, 1 tablespoon sugar
- [Cabbage dressing] Sauce base, a little; vegetable oil, a little; lemon juice, a little
Recipe 🍳
- Pat the thick pork neck steaks dry with paper towels to remove surface moisture. Score the sinew areas lightly, then season evenly with salt and pepper and let sit briefly.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sauce base ingredients (3 tablespoons water, 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons cheongju, 3 tablespoons mirin, 1 tablespoon sugar). Bring to a boil and let it bubble for about 20 seconds to evaporate the alcohol, then set aside to cool.
- Slice the garlic slightly thick for chips. Thinly shred the cabbage, then soak in cold water briefly for crispness, drain, and remove excess moisture.
- Lightly and evenly dust the seasoned pork neck steaks with flour (or starch) on both sides, then shake off any excess.
- Heat 5 tablespoons vegetable oil in a pan, add the sliced garlic, and cook over low heat to infuse the oil. Once the garlic turns golden brown, strain to separate the garlic chips and garlic-infused oil.
- Return the garlic-infused oil to the pan and sear the pork neck steaks over high heat until the surface is nicely browned and a Maillard reaction occurs.
- Once the pork is well-seared on both sides, pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan. Add 12 tablespoons of the prepared sauce base and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Simmer over medium-low heat, spooning the sauce over the meat to glaze.
- When the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat to low and add 0.5 tablespoon butter, melting it gently into the sauce to enrich it. Remove the pork and slice it into bite-sized pieces.
- Arrange the shredded cabbage and sliced Tonteki attractively on a plate. Spoon the remaining pan sauce over the meat and top with crispy garlic chips. (For the cabbage, dress with a mixture of the cooled sauce base, vegetable oil, and lemon juice to taste.)
- Score the pork neck and season with salt and pepper; simmer soy sauce, cheongju, sugar, and other ingredients to make the sauce base.
- Fry sliced garlic in oil over low heat to make garlic oil and chips; sear the flour-dusted pork neck in the garlic oil over high heat.
- Add 12 tablespoons sauce base, Worcestershire sauce, and butter to the meat, simmer until glossy, and serve with cabbage and garlic chips.
Cooking tips 💡
- Use thick pork neck steaks and score the sinew so the meat doesn't curl or shrink when cooked, ensuring tenderness.
- Boil the sauce base briefly before cooking to burn off the alcohol from the mirin and cheongju, and to balance the sweet and salty flavors.
- Add the garlic to the oil before heating and cook over low heat to avoid burning, yielding both crispy chips and fragrant garlic oil.
- If there's too much oil after searing, the sauce won't cling to the meat properly; drain off excess, leaving about 2 tablespoons, before adding the sauce.
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