Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce
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Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce – Tender pieced of pork braised in a flavorful sauce with a touch of heat. Made with just a small list of simple ingredients, this is a great way to switch up your weekly rotation with a fabulously easy takeout-fakeout dinner.
Pork Recipe
I love figuring out how to make my favorite takeout items in the comfort of my own home, such as this delicious braised pork with sweet soy sauce. No extra grease or salt to weigh you down! They also require a really surprisingly easy list of ingredients. Once you have these basics in your kitchen, you can use them in practically any combination to make something delicious.
This is one of my most popular pork recipes on the blog, for good reason. It’s extremely easy to make and the taste is incredible.
Besides being able to use different cuts of pork for this recipe, it’ll also work really well if you want to use chicken breast or thighs. As long as they’re cut up into bite sized pieces, they’ll cook down so nicely in this sauce. Now, let’s get cooking!
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions, or click the Jump To Recipe button at the top of the page.
- Pork loin – You can use pork shoulder (butt) or ribs as well.
- Vegetable oil – Any mild flavored oil like olive, safflower, or sunflower will work.
- Sesame oil – If you can find toasted sesame oil, buy it! The flavor is amazing.
- Soy sauce – I like to use reduced sodium soy sauce. You can use regular if that’s what you have on hand.
- Sugar – Brown sugar works as well, or you can use sugar alternatives or more viscous sugars like honey or agave instead.
- Water
- Chili garlic sauce – Also known as sambal oelek. You can use any type of hot sauce you like best; sriracha or gochujang would be great as well.
- Green onion – I like to have these as a nice and fresh garnish for the finished pork. The onion is optional, but I highly recommend using it!
How to Make Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce
- Sear the pork: Cut the pork into 1″ cubes. Sauté over medium-high heat in a pan with the vegetable oil, working in batches if you need, until the pork is cooked through.
- Braise the pork: Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl, then pour the prepared sauce over the pork and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and braise for 30 minutes uncovered, or until most of the sauce has reduced. Stir to coat each piece of pork in sauce and serve garnished with green onions.
What Is Braising
Braising is a method of cooking that uses both wet and dry heat. Basically, this means that the food is first sautéed or seared at a higher temperature, then finished in a liquid, in a covered pot at a lower temperature.
How to Serve
I usually serve this pork over some noodles or steamed rice. It would be delicious with coconut rice as well! You can also make some mashed potatoes, or use Asian style noodles such as udon, soba, ramen, or vermicelli.
If you want to serve your pork with some sides, give these recipes a try!
How to Store Leftovers
Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you made a carb like noodles, rice, or potatoes, you can store the leftover pork in the same container, or separate. Totally up to you!
Leftovers will heat up best in the microwave. If you want to use a different method, I’d suggest stovetop. Add the pork, plus a splash of water or broth, to a skillet and turn the heat onto medium. Stir often, and add more water or broth if the sauce starts to dry out. Cook for about 5 minutes or until heated through.
Freezing
This is an awesome freezer meal! You can make a double or triple batch of this recipe and store a few meals worth in the freezer for nights when you don’t have time to make a good homemade dinner.
Transfer the pork to a large freezer bag or airtight container and it will last in the freezer for 3-4 months. To reheat, you can pop it straight into the microwave from the freezer. To use my stovetop method above, let the pork thaw overnight in the fridge first.
Did You Love This Recipe? Try These!
- Korean Bulgogi Pork
- Quick and Easy Beef Stir Fry
- Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
- Korean BBQ Pork Ribs
- Mongolian Beef
- Korean Fried Chicken
- Asian Style Udon Noodles with Pork and Mushrooms
- Baked Salmon Teriyaki
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Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 40 mins
Serves: 4
Braised Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce – Tender pieced of pork braised in a flavorful sauce with a touch of heat. Made with just a small list of simple ingredients, this is a great way to switch up your weekly rotation with a fabulously easy takeout-fakeout dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork loin
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
Garnish
- 2 green onions chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the pork in about 1 inch pieces and saute in a pan with the vegetable oil for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat, until the pork is no longer pink and starts to brown.
- In a medium bowl mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the pork and bring to a boil. You may think there's too much water, but it will reduce. Once it's boiling turn the heat down to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally, or until there's only about 3 tbsp of sauce left.
- Garnish with green onions. Serve over noodles or steamed rice.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you made a carb like noodles, rice, or potatoes, you can store the leftover pork in the same container, or separate. Totally up to you!
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 494kcal (25%)Carbohydrates: 16g (5%)Protein: 53g (106%)Fat: 23g (35%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Cholesterol: 143mg (48%)Sodium: 1389mg (60%)Potassium: 922mg (26%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 13g (14%)Vitamin A: 60IU (1%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 24mg (2%)Iron: 2mg (11%)
Kristin says
This was really good and my family agreed! I made it with beef and it worked great. I think it was just the timing for me….it took a long time for me to brown the beef in 2 batches and then wait 30 min. for it to braise while the fam was hungry. I had more than a few T left of sauce in the pot, but we ate it anyway rather than wait longer. I served it with coconut rice. Yummy.
M Hayes says
We enjoyed the flavor but found a lean cut like loin to get too tough for our taste. We preferred using pork butt.
Iren says
Hi Jo – I’m just confused on the pork loin. When you say ribs do you mean
spareribs? What other cut of pork can you use? Thanks so much
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
You can use pork shoulder (butt) or ribs (any) as well! As long as the meat is cut up into bite sized pieces so they will cook down in the sauce nicely 🙂
Alice says
Hi Jo! How much fresh garlic and fresh ginger would I use as a substitute for the 1 T of garlic ginger paste?
Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Thanks!
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
Generally 1/2 teaspoon equates to 1 clove of garlic and 3 grams of ginger. You can flavor it to your liking! I don’t think you can ever have too much garlic or ginger 😉
Linda C Johnston says
Another winner! Tonight’s dinner and I have everything listed! I pinned it to share. I use so many of your recipes and I thought it time to say thank you!
Brett says
I will give this a try this week need to go by the grocery store anyway… Thanks for putting this up..!!.
I do almost all the cooking my wife is had four strokes and makes me feel good when she asked me …what’s for dinner babe…!! Thanks again for all you do the quickest recipes are the best for me…
Monica Siebrand says
I’m from Romania as well. But now I live in Poland.
Jessica Marchand says
Made exactly according to the recipe- a big hit in my house! We love to eat this with some kimchi or baby bok choy. Thank you for the recipe
Joanna Cismaru says
My pleasure, so happy to hear you like it!
Kara Richmer says
I tweaked this a little bit for what I had & needed. Replaced the sugar with 2.5 tbsps of stevia, I didn’t have ginger so i used a tbsp of this makoto ginger dressing I had, and I added a california vegetable medley mix + onions right after it got to a boil and let it cook for a bit. I didnt let my sauce simmer for 30 mins like the recipe says but instead let it simmer for like 10-15 mins. Added with some cauliflower rice, and it was a heavenly dinner! I will DEFINITELY be using this again in the future thank you Jo!!!
Vicki says
Absolutely gorgeous thank you !
Tiffany says
Tried this recipe tonight , It was a hit! Everyone loves it. I followed the recipe exactly. This is going to be a regular thing in our home for a long, long time. Thanks for publishing it.
kimberly says
I dont have Ginger paste on hand, can i substitute it with anything?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Do you have any ginger powder? You can also buy a knob of ginger from your grocery store and keep it in your freezer for whenever you need some ginger.
Lisa Killian says
I AM GOING TO TRY SOME. I NEED QUICK AND EASY.RECIPES
Joanna Cismaru says
You’ll love it! Lots more easy recipes you can find here.
Nicole Beaulieu says
This is SO good!
Judy says
Saute the pork in vegetable oil? The recipe only calls for olive oil and sesame oil. Does the olive oil and sesame oil both go into the sauce mix?
Joanna Cismaru says
Fixed the recipe to include 2 tbsp of vegetable oil for sauteing the pork in initially. You’re correct the olive oil and sesame oil go into the sauce mix.
Katie says
This sounds so delicious!
Sarah says
This is a great idea! I can imagine this going down really well with stir-fried veggies on the side. Could be delicious with chicken or prawns too.
jo says
Great idea, I’ve only made it with pork before, but I would imagine chicken would work great, and come to think of it, even beef would be perfect.
Simply Tia says
This looks so tasty!
jo says
It is, very flavorful.