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This super easy garlic and soy pork with green beans is the perfect cozy dinner for a cold day. Bite sized pork is quickly braised on the stove top and served up with some green beans, making for a hearty dinner!
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👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Garlic and Soy Pork Recipe
There's this amazing braised pork that my in-laws make and lately, I've been craving it. However, their version is way more complicated and takes a much longer braising period so I thought I'd try my hand at recreating a simpler version that I could tackle, especially on weeknights.
You'll love how "quick" this braised pork is. While some may not consider 35 minutes of braising to be quick, it's definitely much quicker than the original version without compromising on flavour.
How? It's full of flavour since the pork is cut into bite sized pieces, the garlic soy really penetrates the pork and each bite super flavourful.
You'll definitely want something a little lighter in flavour on the side so you don't have competing flavours which is why an easy sautéed or blanched green bean side as well as rice goes perfectly with the pork. Depending on how much you cook down your sauce, you can save some to drizzle overtop of the green beans and rice to bring the whole dish together.
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- Pork - I used boneless pork loin center and rib chops that I cut into bite sized pieces.
- Green beans - Frozen is a great option for the green beans.
- Garlic - The more the better when it comes to garlic.
- Soy sauce - Try to opt for a low sodium soy sauce.
- Mirin - Mirin is a subtly sweet Japanese rice wine that helps balance out the soy sauce.
- Brown sugar - This really helps build the sweetness to the pork without being super overwhelming.
🔪 Instructions
- Combine the minced garlic, soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar with half a cup of water and set aside.
- In a frying pan or pot, on medium heat, add the olive oil to it and the pork bites. Sear each side until browned, around 2-3 minutes per side.
- Add in the sauce that was set aside earlier. Bring the pot up to a boil and then lower it to a simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the pork is braising, quickly blanche or sauté the green beans. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the sauce mixture has reduced to a thick sauce, you're ready to serve.
👪 FAQs
You can use pork shoulder as well if you can't find pork loin.
Yes you can. The cooked pork can last in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just reheat it when ready to serve.
You can substitute with honey if you prefer but you'll miss the sweet notes of this recipe if you omit all sugars.
I would suggest braising this pork on the stovetop as this wasn't tested for the oven!
💭 Top Tips
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. I like to meal prep this recipe in containers with compartments so the sauce stays on the pork.
- Leftovers can also be frozen or you can double this recipe and freeze the second batch for later. Just thaw in the fridge the night before and reheat as you would anything else.
- You might have to brown the pork in two batches. If the pot is overcrowded, the pork will take longer to brown and might end up steaming instead of searing.
- You might have to stir the pork more often nearing the end of the braising as the sauce will have thickened and you don't want it to burn.
📖 Variations
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of sriracha to add some heat to this braised pork.
- Add peeled hardboiled eggs to braise along side the pork for an additional protein. Egg takes on the flavour really well as well.
- You can serve this with other vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, peas, etc.
- You can also serve this with other grains such as quinoa or brown rice. You can also serve with mashed potatoes.
🥗 Suggested Side Dishes
Here are some delicious side dishes that won't overpower your delicious braised pork!
🍞 Additional Entree Recipes
Here are a few more entree ideas for you to enjoy!
Simple Braised Garlic and Soy Pork
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📋 Recipe Card
Braised Garlic and Soy Pork
Ingredients
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs pork loin cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 lb green beans
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the minced garlic, soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar with half a cup of water and set aside.
- In a frying pan or pot, on medium heat, add the olive oil to it and the pork bites. Sear each side until browned, around 2-3 minutes per side.
- Add in the sauce that was set aside earlier. Bring the pot up to a boil and then lower it to a simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While the pork is braising, quickly blanche or sauté the green beans. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the sauce mixture has reduced to a thick sauce, you're ready to serve.
Notes
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Leftovers can also be frozen or you can double this recipe and freeze the second batch for later. Just thaw in the fridge the night before and reheat as you would anything else.
- Brown the pork in two batches if needed. If the pot is overcrowded, the pork will take longer to brown and might end up steaming instead of searing.
- Keep an eye on and stir the pork more often nearing the end of the braising as the sauce will have thickened and you don't want it to burn.
Nutrition
Carmy is the blogger behind Carmyy.com and Onepotonly.com where she shares simple delicious recipes that are family friendly and easy to make! You can find her on Instagram and Youtube when she's not on her blog!
Jenn
I love simple dishes like this that have big flavor! This is a new family favorite!
Emily Liao
Wow, this braised pork was so delicious! Loved the flavors in this and it turned out so tender.
adriana
What a lovely meal. I bet it is full of flavor garlic is such an important ingredient for making good food. Besides, pork is my favorite protein.
Mahy
What I really like about this dish is the fact that it is extremely simple and full of the amazing flavor at the same time. My favorite combination 🙂
Adrianne Jamieson
I do love how quick this pork is! This is my ultimate week night dinner type of food. Can't wait to try it.