Buta no Shogayaki (Ginger Pork)

Shogayaki is a simple yet very popular dish in Japanese cuisine and is very often included in restaurant lunchtime set meals in business areas in Tokyo. Shoga means "ginger", and yaki means "grill or fry". The marinade is made from soy sauce, grated ginger and lemon and spices to taste. Marinate the meat prior to cooking, and add more marinade while cooking if a stronger, juicier taste is preferred. Shogayaki can be made with either pork or beef, but pork shogayaki is more common.
Shogayaki is a popular lunch box item, as it tastes good even when eaten cold. Of course, a good and simple way of serving shogayaki is on top of plain hot rice in a bowl. If on a plate, serve thinly chopped cabbage on the side. For this recipe, I added a side garnish of fresh spinach and cut tomatoes for color.
Originating in Southern Asia, ginger was already in use as a medicine in China as early as 500 B.C. and is still a main spice in yakuzen, a Chinese meal combining food and traditional medicine. An article on ginger in the Koji-ki, the oldest historical book in Japan (712 A.D.), mentions ginger as being imported into Japan around the 3rd century A.D. In Japan, ginger is usually grated and mixed with soy sauce or cut into fine strips and sprinkled over the meal (as benishoga in yakisoba). In contrast, i n Europe, in around the 14th century, ginger gained popularity not as a medicine but as a flavoring spice from the East, like pepper, leading to the fashion of gingerbread biscuits and cakes in Britain.
In Europe − especially in Britain − ginger is more often found in sweet foods such as gingerbread men. British English has an interesting expression, "to take the gilt off the gingerbread". According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1894), that means "to destroy the illusion". This originated from the fact that gingerbread, a cake spiced with ginger often sold in toy shapes (especially as a flat human figure), was covered or ornamented with either real or, more usually, imitation gilt. The saying was a metaphor for anything showy but insubstantial. These eatables were common as early as Elizabethan days and during the reign of Henry IV. The idea of taking off the gilt to reveal something less valuable developed in the 19th century, possibly as a result of the popularity of gingerbread stalls at country fairs.
Ginger does not have much nutritional content itself, but its unique sharp taste and aroma are said to be effective in many ways. Its "hot" taste is good for improving blood circulation as well as raising the metabolism, making you sweat. In winter, when many people tend to have colds, it is an important ingredient for warming you up and preventing you from catching a cold or even the flu. It is also characterized by its strong sterilizing power. The aroma can contribute to arouse your appetite, which will help you to r ecover from fatigue, especially in hot summer. It seems that ginger is a perfect solution throughout the year for us, who are now experiencing a rare cold winter in Southern Spain but also waiting for the hot summer to come!

Written by Yuko Tamaki-Welply
A member of TranNet and freelance translator based in Southern Spain

♦ INGREDIENTS
(4 servings)

T   = tablespoon
t   = teaspoon
c   = cup

400 g thinly sliced pork
2 t  grated fresh ginger
3 t   soy sauce
3 t   sugar
2 5   sweet sake (mirin)

♦ How to make Shogayaki

1.  Mix soy sauce, sugar and mirin and grated ginger in a bowl.
2. Marinate the pork slices for approximately 10 minutes, allowing the pork to soak thoroughly.
3. Heat oil in a frying panand stir-fry the pork slices. Once the pork has browned, remove it from the pan.
4. Now add the remaining sauce into the pan and boil for a few seconds, then add the pork and mix together for a while.

Fish species are written using a variety of kanji. Each epecies has its own kanji name. It's said that not all such kanji names originated in China: many were created in Japan. Let's study the origins and meanings of fish names.