Knock on wood, Caya has rarely been sick and when she is her symptoms have been unusually mild. She’ll continue playing happily through light fevers and they’re typically gone in a day. Not this time: she got Coxsackie virus and it has been miserable, for all of us. Poor baby had 103 deg F for a day and half and after it came down, blisters filled the insides of her cheeks. Between the temperature and pain, she’s been up several times a night (also a rarity since 8 weeks old) and mom and dad are pooped!

What really freaked me out though was that she wasn’t eating. If you’ve been following my instagram, you know how much this kid usually eats. Seriously, our two-year old can out eat some full grown adults. Between Wednesday morning and this afternoon, she had eaten less than what she usually eats in one meal. Our pediatrician assured me that it would be fine as long as she stays hydrated yet I couldn’t help but FREAK OUT. Fortunately, she finally ate some food for dinner this evening: Sausage, Peppers, and Onions, one of my go-to’s when I have zero time to cook. When Caya is sick, she won’t let me leave her side for one millisecond. The tears start flowing at the thought that I might get up.

While we suffer you can benefit.  A perfect setting for another barely “cooking” dish. There’s hardly any prep, fully ready in about 4 minutes, and only two ingredients.   Pairing two ingredients that are a match made in heaven – Pork Belly & Kimchi.  Your friend will think this took all day.

Pork Belly & Kimchi title picture

I can’t take all the credit for coming up with this dish. I got the idea from San & Deul Restaurant, a Korean place where they grill meats right on your table. We had a dish with pork belly and un-fermented kimchi. I saw how easy it was and what an awesome combination the flavors made so I decided to replicate it at home. Since you can buy fermented or un-fermented kimchi in jars, this is a super easy dish.

As I mentioned, two ingredients. That means, not even oil in the pan. Trust me, the pork belly will give off plenty of fat. And then, the kimchi gives enough saltiness that you don’t even have to worry about seasoning. Seriously, you really don’t need a written recipe after you do it once. You’ll see.

Pork Belly & Kimchi
~1 main course or 2 to 3 appetizers

  • 3 slices (8″ long and 1/4″ thick) pork belly , cut into 2″ pieces
  • 1/2 cup kimchi

1. Place pieces of pork belly flat on a large cast iron pan and turn on medium high heat. Don’t use any oil and don’t allow pieces to overlap.

pork belly in cast iron pan

2. When the pork belly has turned golden brown on one side, flip them over. Spread kimchi across the pork belly. When the pork belly is browned on both sides, toss and flip the pork belly and kimchi around for a minute. Serve immediately over rice.

Pork Belly & Kimchi in cast iron pan

posted by jessica at 10:31 PM Filed under Korean, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.