Guchujong pork (Thursday 3/25/10)

I defrosted some pork roast (we get a big pork roast from Costco and divide it up to make 4 different dishes) and made a guchujong pork dish. I based it a bit on what I remembered putting into guchujong chicken a couple of weeks ago, but no potatoes and more of a braise than a stew.

The main flavors in the dish are guchujong (Korean chili paste), tahini (sesame paste), sesame seed oil, and ginger. A bit more subtle are soy, Korean chili pepper, and garlic.

One of my regular banchan is grated daikon with a little salt and mirin. For some reason, tonight I unthinkingly put in soy sauce (instead of salt) and experimented with using Korean malt syrup instead of mirin. Both are mistakes... the daikon needs light flavors that bring out its taste, not heavier flavors that mask it. Plus the soy gave it an unappetizing brown color.

The daikon is at "9 o'clock" below. Going clockwise are radish kimchi (one of my favorites), geem, Korean zucchini, and ojingo (dried squid in guchujong).

Janet's coworker Julie sent her home with a huge slice of chocolate cake. It was great! The recipe comes from Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa) and Janet has sworn to try making it herself.