Japanese miso paste adds a satisfying umami note to chunky pieces of pork and carrots braised with garlic, fresh ginger and onion. Recipe below.
[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]hat’s the traditional sixth anniversary gift? If it’s a food blog anniversary, I’m going with pork. Yes, Blue Kitchen is six years old this month. A lot has changed for me foodwise in that time. For one thing, I feel like I know more about food than when I started—including how ungodly much I don’t know and will never know. But some things have remained the same, like my willingness to borrow ingredients from the global pantry and use them authentically or otherwise. This week, that ingredient is miso paste.
You’ll pretty much always find miso paste in our fridge. It’s a concentrated Japanese seasoning that you’ve most likely encountered in miso soup. Indeed, it sees plenty of action as that in our kitchen, especially if anyone’s under the weather. Marion will make a simple miso broth while cooking some broken noodles separately. She’ll then combine noodles and broth in a bowl and top it all with chopped scallions. It is wonderfully comforting.
But miso paste can do so much more than soup. In Japan, it’s a culinary staple used in sauces, marinades, salad dressings and much more. White miso has a lighter flavor; red miso is earthier, more intense. In March, Mark Bittman wrote about miso and inventive ways to use it. I am totally ready to try the miso mayonnaise. You’ll find his article here.
Most often made from fermented soybeans, miso paste adds a pleasantly savory taste to just about anything—that elusive umami quality that quite literally makes your mouth water. It is what makes meats, mushrooms and cheeses taste so satisfying. Although umami is distinct from saltiness, miso paste packs plenty of salt too. So use a light hand with it and don’t add salt until the very end, if at all. (I used a little soy sauce in this recipe for its own brand of umami and skipped the salt.)
When Marion and I first started discussing what would ultimately become this miso braised pork recipe, my first instinct was to go at least semi-authentically Japanese with it. I considered adding dashi flakes and chopped up daikon radish, then serving it over rice or soba noodles. But as we talked (and as we sampled from the cooking pot), it became less about authentic Japanese and more about chunky, soupy, stewy comfort food for a cold November night. In the end, Marion’s idea for serving it over egg noodles seemed perfect.
Pork shoulder roast (or pork butt roast, also cut from the shoulder) is well suited to slow cooking, taking on the flavors of the braising liquid and becoming reliably tender. Look for a piece that is well marbled with fat and don’t be overzealous in trimming away any of that fat. It equals flavor.
Miso Braised Pork Shoulder
Equipment
- piece of parchment paper trimmed to just fit inside Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 to 3 pounds pork shoulder, cut into large chunks
- freshly ground black pepper
- canola oil
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 cup rice wine, mirin or dry white wine (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 cup water, plus more if needed
- 3 tablespoons miso paste, preferably red
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- noodles or rice
- sliced scallions, for garnish (see Kitchen Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF with rack positioned in lower third of oven. Season pork shoulder chunks generously with black pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil over medium-high flame in a large nonstick skillet. Working in batches, brown pork on all sides, adding more oil to the pan if needed. As pork is browned, transfer to a large bowl.
- Meanwhile, heat 2 more tablespoons of oil over medium flame in a Dutch oven. Add onion and carrots and sweat vegetables about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning of onions (reduce heat if necessary). Add garlic and ginger to pot and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Add half the wine and half the water to the pot along with the miso paste and soy sauce and stir to combine, breaking up the miso paste with the back of a wooden spoon.
- When all the pork has been browned, reduce heat to medium and deglaze pan with remaining wine and water. Pour liquid into Dutch oven and add pork and any accumulated juices. Stir to combine. Liquid should nearly cover pork. If not, add a little water. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Carefully press parchment paper down onto meat mixture in Dutch oven.
- Cover pot with lid and transfer to oven. Braise for 1 hour. Remove from oven, check to see if you need to add a little more water (be judicious here). Give it a good stir, return to oven and braise until meat is completely fork tender, about another 1/2 hour.
- Meanwhile cook rice or noodles, depending on your choice. Time it to finish when pork is done.
- If the remaining liquid is fairly watery, transfer pork and carrots to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and tent with foil. Bring sauce in Dutch oven to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly thickened and reduced, about 5 minutes. Don't overdo this, though—concentrating it too much will make it overly salty. If the broth/sauce is to your liking, proceed to the next step, using a slotted spoon to plate the meat and carrots and ladling the sauce separately.
- Spoon noodles or rice into individual shallow bowls. Top with meat and carrots and ladle sauce over it. Garnish with scallions and serve.
oh my! I love the look of this recipe!!
You opt for braising the pork so it won’t get dry? Is that the idea?
Terry, Have you noticed that you’re a lot like Julia, taking novice chefs giving them some basic tips to make a dish yummy. This sounds fantastic and warming even in the Arizona “winters.” The tips are the artist in the recipes! Thanks.
Happy 6th, and I’m lucky to have known the two of you for at least half that time. This recipe will be fantastic once (if?) it drops below 80 degrees around here.
Exactly, Kitty. And while many braises call for stovetop cooking over low heat, I find that oven braising provides gentler heat from all sides, not just the bottom, further protecting against drying out. And finally, the parchment paper helps keep all the moisture in the Dutch oven concentrated around the meat.
Awww, thank you, Barbara! My first big cooking breakthrough years ago was looking at a recipe and thinking “I can do this, and I think I it will taste pretty good.” So I try to offer everyone recipes that sound doable and will maybe take their cooking somewhere they wouldn’t have thought of on their own.
Back atcha, Altadenahiker. We feel very lucky to know you, if even only online. (We need to fix that, by the way.)
This has cold weather ‘yummyness’ written all over it.
Cutting away too much fat is a challenge for me because I do not like fat on meat (except for crispy bacon). Even though I know I need to leave it for flavour, cuts like pork shoulder make me crazy . But I do love pork.
I’m forgetful lately. I meant to wish Blue Kitchen a Happy Anniversary!
Looking forward to many more!
Happy food blog anniversary! The pork looks like a great way to celebrate. I’ve been smearing miso paste on salmon lately–will have to try it with pork, too.
Happy Anniversary! You have one of the best blogs going—- great recipes and loads of useful info. Like in today’s post! I don’t cook with miso nearly enough. Silly, because I like it — just haven’t made it a habit. Although it could easily become habit forming with one bite of this dish! Really nice flavors, lovely recipe. I’m actually cooking a pork roast tonight (loin, so the cut isn’t ideal for this recipe) but maybe I should do something miso-based as a marinade or rub. Good stuff – thanks.
Randi, the nice thing about the fat in this treatment is that it just melts into the dish during the long cooking process. So you’re not chewing on pieces of fat (which I admit I happily do with steaks and chops), but just enjoying the flavor it adds.
Rowdy, miso paste on salmon sounds delicious! Do you pan sear it? Grill it? Bake or broil it? Another use I’ve made of miso is on maple-miso grilled chicken.
Kitchenriffs, back atcha about having a great blog. Your photography is gorgeous! I could go for one of those Ward Eight cocktails right now—and it’s barely ten in the morning.
Ummm. This looks just right for Janet and me. But what is a Dutch oven when it’s at home …? Fortunately Janet speaks Dutch. But I want this to be a surprise. Looks up ‘Dutch Oven’. Well, wouldn’t you know, ‘separated by a common language’ again. I have one already under a different name!
Best Wishes for your sixth and here’s to the next!
Wow! This sound delicious! I really enjoy pork shoulder cooked in a slow cooker, however this looks tender and awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
Fixed this today. Very tasty. Was looking for something different than my usual recipes for pork shoulder, i.e., carnitas or barbecue. This recipe intrigued me though I was a bit concerned. But, I took it as a sign that I had almost all of the ingredients. Used wine as no mirin. No green onions so no garnish. Oh, the horror. Ha ha. I’ve pinned recipe and will fix again for sure!
Happy Anniversary! Once again, you seem to know exactly what’s in my refrigerator looking for some inspiration. We always drink miso broth too when we’re under the weather. So much easier to make than chicken soup and every bit as restorative.