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Miso Braised Pork Shoulder
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Miso Braised Pork Shoulder

Japanese miso paste adds a satisfying umami note to chunky pieces of pork and carrots braised with garlic, fresh ginger and onion.
Course Main Course, Meat
Servings 4 generous servings, with possible leftovers

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.

Kitchen Notes

Mirin. It is a rice wine similar to sake, but lower in alcohol content. You can find it in Asian markets and many supermarkets. You can also add white wine instead; either will add a little brightness to the dish.
Curly scallions? Yep. A little trick picked up on the Internet. Slice green tops of 1 or 2 scallions into 2-inch pieces. Slice them very thinly lengthwise and put them in an ice water bath for at least 20 minutes. This will cause them to curl and look pretty cool as a garnish. If that seems like a lot of work, just slice scallions thinly crosswise and use as a garnish.