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    Home » Recipes » Meat

    Buta no Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)

    Published: Feb 22, 2020 · Modified: May 19, 2022 by Yuto Omura

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    Delicious and quick to make, this Japanese "shogayaki" ginger pork (生姜焼き) consists of thinly sliced pork cooked in a fragrant sauce made with fresh ginger. It's ready in less than 30 minutes and is perfect for lunch or a midweek dinner.

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Sudachi Recipes earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. See disclaimer for more info.

    What is shogayaki

    As there are a lot of ginger pork recipes around the world, shōgayaki is basically a Japanese version of stir-fried pork with ginger. In Japanese, shōga (生姜) means ginger and yaki (焼き) means fry.

    Although pork is not mentioned in the name, this dish is made almost exclusively with pork. The full name would be "Buta no Shogayaki" (豚の生姜焼き) or Ginger Fried Pork.

    Some people might use beef or chicken instead, but it's not common or associated with the name of the dish.

    A Brief History of Shōgayaki

    Shōgayaki appeared in the early 20th century. Ginger was originally used to soften the smell of pork, which can have quite a strong odor when cooking.

    This dish started off as a home dish, but in the 1920's it's popularity grew and restaurants began serving it too.

    Shōgayaki was a dish supposedly invented in Tokyo and spread across the Kantō area, but now it's one of the most popular pork dishes nationwide!

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    Marinated or not marinated?

    Shogayaki is one of the most popular dishes in Japanese households and there are tons of different recipes out there. Some people marinate and the others don't. The method is simply different depending on the household. But as far as I can tell, in order to reduce the preparation time, more and more recipes choose not to marinate in recent years.

    It's not only the method that varies. You could say that about the flavour of the sauce as well, like some people prefer sweet sauce and others don't.

    To keep it quick, my recipe does not contain marinating process and I mainly focus on making complex sauce instead. The flavour leans more towards the sweet side.

    Shogayaki cooking sauce

    As I mentioned above, I use a lot for different ingredients to make a complex sauce:

    • Ginger
    • Garlic
    • Onion
    • Apple
    • Sake
    • Mirin
    • Soy sauce
    • Dashi stock
    • Honey

    It might seem like a long list, but it only has basic ingredients and condiments! Leftover ingredients such as onion or apple are easy to incorporate into other dishes too.

    See below for alternatives and substitutions!

    While I made this sauce with use of pork in mind, you can use this ginger sauce for other meats like chicken or beef if you prefer.

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    Benefits of Cooking with Ginger

    • The smell of ginger softens the smell of pork and oil
    • Ginger can help reduce nausea and increase your appetite, so it's a good dish to eat in the summer when your appetite might be lower than usual
    • It's delicious! The ginger sauce is even used in restaurants to garnish steaks and Japanese style hamburg steaks!
    fresh ginger cut into slices on a wooden background

    Which part of pork to be used?

    There is always some discussion of which part of the pork is best to use for shogayaki in Japan. The general meat of choice is "thin slices of pork loin".

    It is fine and tender with a good amount of fat on the outside of the lean meat.

    In Japanese supermarkets, this cut is specifically labelled as "for shogayaki", however, other parts can also be used.

    Keep in mind that everything should be more or less thinly sliced.

    Shoulder

    This is the dorsal part of the shoulder. It has a fine, slightly coarse lean flesh with a web of fat. It has a rich, full-bodied flavour.

    Belly

    Pork belly can also be use for shogayaki. This part is rich in flavour and fat and is very satisfying.

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    5 Tips and tricks for making delicious Shogayaki

    Shogayaki is a quick and simple dish with great flavour, that's why it's so popular! Here, I will list some tips and tricks to ensure delicious shogayaki every time.

    Grate ginger with skin on

    If you're looking at this recipe, I believe you're a fan of ginger!

    Ginger has a strong flavour in its skin. For this reason, I prefer to grate ginger with the skin on for a more gingery result.

    Just make sure to wash it beforehand though!

    Bring the pork to room temperature

    For best results, take the pork out of the fridge about half an hour before you want to cook it and bring it to room temperature.

    If the meat is cold, it will take longer to cook as well, which can lead to tough meat. Meat brought to room temperature before cooking yields a more tender result.

    This is especially important if you use thicker cuts of meat, if you cook it straight from the fridge then the surface will be browned quickly but the inside may still be raw.

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    Cut the muscle of the meat (if you use loin)

    Place the fatty part of the meat in front of you and make four or five cuts in between the fatty part and the lean part.

    This will prevent the meat from curling when cooked.

    Sprinkle the meat with flour before cooking

    This is a cooking method called "dredging". Not only does dredging allow the meat to brown more beautifully and pick up more flavour when cooking, but it also helps thicken the sauce and stick better to the meat.

    Place the meat in a cold pan

    This is a pretty new technique to me, but it makes all the difference!

    Placing the meat in a cold pan and allowing it to heat up gradually will prevent the proteins from coagulating due to the sudden temperature change, in turn, this stops the meat from shrinking and becoming tough.

    It is said that it reduces the rate of contraction of the muscle fibres by half compared to placing the meat straight into a hot pan.

    Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad

    Alternative ingredients

    As a person who lived abroad for years, I know how hard finding Japanese ingredients can be. I'm back in Japan now so I tend to forget about it but I want to try to suggest alternatives as well.

    So I will list alternative options for some ingredients in this recipe.

    Sake - White wine

    I use sake for the sauce, but if you cannot get sake, the common substitute is dry sherry or white wine.

    Be careful when using wine as the flavour can linger in the food, try to use dry white wine (rather than sweet) in Japanese cooking.

    Alcohol helps tenderize the meat and adds umami to the sauce, the alcohol content will evaporate during the cooking process. If you can't use alcohol for any reason, then just use water to maintain the consistency of the sauce.

    Shishito Peppers - Mini sweet peppers

    In this recipe, I fry shishito pepper (mildly spicy East Asian pepper) in the leftover sauce.

    Alternative I suggest for this is mini sweet peppers.

    shishito peppers
    Shishito peppers are bitter and mildly spicy. For this recipe you can use mini sweet peppers instead.

    Dashi - Water

    I use 1 tbsp of dashi liquid stock in the sauce for the sauce for extra umami. Obviously not many people store pre-made dashi stock in the fridge unless they use it often, and I don't recommend making a whole batch of dashi stock just for shogayaki as it's only 1 tbsp.

    If you have dashi powder, you could add a small pinch (just don't add too much).

    Otherwise, you can simply replace dashi with water. You can just think of dashi as a bonus ingredient in this recipe.

    Apple

    I'll admit that I only use a small amount of apple in this recipe, so if you don't want to buy a whole apple for this, it's also fine to use an equal amount of apple juice or smooth apple sauce. Apple adds a pleasant sweetness so I recommend incorporating it in some way!

    A slice of shogayaki ginger pork held with chopsticks
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    Japanese Ginger Pork Buta no Shogayaki featured img

    Buta no Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)


    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 reviews

    • Author: Yuto Omura
    • Total Time: 25 minutes
    • Yield: 2 Servings 1x
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    Description

    How to make delicious Japanese Buta no Shogayaki (生姜焼き) made with thinly sliced pork loin cooked in a fragrant homemade ginger sauce.  Perfect served with rice and shredded cabbage or salad. (Serves 2)


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Sauce

    • 20g fresh ginger grated
    • 1 tsp apple grated
    • 1 tsp onion grated
    • 1 clove garlic grated
    • 2 tbsp soy sauce
    • 3 tbsp sake
    • 2 tbsp mirin
    • 1 tbsp dashi stock (or water)
    • 1 tsp honey

    Shogayaki

    • 250g pork loin thinly sliced
    • Salt and pepper for seasoning
    • Plain flour for dusting
    • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
    • 4-6 shishito peppers

    Instructions

    1. Take a small bowl and mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside for later.
      Making but a no Shogayaki sauce
    2. Next, prepare your pork by making incisions in the fat to prevent curling. 
      making incisions in the pork fat
    3. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides and then lightly dust with plain flour.
      dredging pork slices with flour
    4. Place a wide pan on the stove and drizzle in 1 tbsp of vegetable oil.
      adding veg oil to cold pan
    5. While the pan is still cold, place the pork inside making one layer (don't overlap/pile up) and turn on heat to medium.
      placing pork in the frying pan
    6. Cook one side of the pork until browned.
      Frying one side of the pork
    7. Once it's browned, flip it over and add the sauce.
      adding sauce to the pan
    8. Move pork around the pan to distribute the sauce evenly.
      Moving the pork around in Shogayaki sauce
    9. Once pork is cooked through, remove it from the pan.
      removing pork from the pan
    10. Fry the shishito pepper in the same pan with the leftover sauce for 2-3 minutes.
      frying shishito peppers in Shogaki sauce
    11. Turn off the heat and dish up the peppers, drizzle any leftover sauce over the meat.
      drizzling Shogayaki with leftover sauce
    12. Serve with rice and salad.
      Shogayaki Ginger Pork with shishito peppers and a side salad
    13. Enjoy! 

    Notes

    See in post for alternative ingredients.

    Buta no shogayaki is usually served with shredded cabbage/salad and Japanese style rice.

    • Prep Time: 10 mins
    • Cook Time: 15 mins
    • Category: Pork
    • Method: Fry
    • Cuisine: Japanese

    Keywords: shogayaki, how to make shogayaki, shogayaki ginger pork, shogayaki recipe, Japanese shogayaki, Japanese ginger pork, ginger pork stir fry, ginger pork recipe, how to make ginger pork, ginger pork sauce, grated onion, what pork to use for shogayaki, pork shogayaki, what is shogayaki, shougayaki,buta no Shogayaki, Japanese buta no Shogayaki,

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Andy Mc

      April 23, 2020 at 11:37 am

      Cooked this tonight. Reminded me of Japanese meals in better times!
      Thanks for sharing.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Yuto Omura

        April 23, 2020 at 5:24 pm

        Hi, Andy
        You're welcome and thank you very much for the lovely comment!

        Reply

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    Thanks for visiting Sudachi Recipes. My name is Yuto and I'm a Japanese guy with a passion for food. Here I share tasty and accessible recipes so that you can bring a taste of Japan to your own kitchen.

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