Gourmet Vet

EasyMade up

Miso ground pork and collards over rice

By The Gourmet Vet

Jump to recipe

I made this up on a weeknight with a bunch of collards, a pack of ground pork and a tub of miso in the fridge. Cut the greens thin and they cook in the time it takes the pork to brown. It's a Southern pot of greens done fast, with the ham hock benched.

The bridge. Pork and greens is a Southern pairing, and miso does the job a smoked ham hock does in a pot of collards: it brings the deep, salty base, in minutes instead of hours.

Miso ground pork and collards over rice

Serves
4 servings
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min

Equipment. 12 inch skillet with a lid, cast iron or stainless, 3 quart saucepan for the rice

Ingredients

Rice

  • 300 g (1.5 cups) short-grain or long-grain white rice, cooked by your usual method

Pork and greens

  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 450 g (1 lb) ground pork
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 bunch collard greens (about 400 g)
  • 1 small onion, sliced thin
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
  • 60 ml (1/4 cup) water

Miso sauce

  • 35 g (2 tbsp) white or yellow miso
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin, or 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp warm water
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar or cider vinegar

To finish

  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • Red pepper flakes or hot sauce

Method

  1. Get the rice going first. It takes longer than everything else.
  2. Strip the collard leaves off the stems. Stack the leaves, roll them up tight, and slice across into ribbons about as wide as a pencil. Thin ribbons are what lets collards cook in minutes. Wide pieces stay tough and you will be tempted to cook them forever. Wash the ribbons in a big bowl of water and lift them out, so the grit stays behind.
  3. Whisk the miso, soy, mirin and 2 tbsp warm water in a small bowl until smooth. Lumps of miso do not melt in the pan, so do it now.
  4. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Add the pork in one flat layer, salt it, and leave it alone 4 minutes so the bottom browns. Then break it up and keep cooking until no pink shows and the bits are browned, 4 to 5 more minutes. Grey pork tastes like nothing. Check a thick clump with the thermometer: 160 F (71 C) is the safe minimum for ground pork.
  5. Push the pork to one side. Add the onion to the fat and cook 3 minutes, then the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.
  6. Pile in the collards with the 60 ml water. It will look like too much. Toss, cover, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, tossing once, until the greens are dark and tender but still have a little chew.
  7. Turn the heat to low and stir in the miso sauce. Let it heat through for a minute, no more. Hard boiling miso dulls it. Stir in the vinegar, taste, and add salt only if it needs it. The miso and soy carry a lot.
  8. Spoon over rice and top with scallions and pepper flakes.

What goes wrong

  • Tough greens: the ribbons were cut too wide, or the stems went in. Cut them thin and leave the stems out.
  • Salty: miso and soy brands vary. Start with less miso if yours is a dark red one, and taste before you add any salt.
  • Steamed, grey pork: the pan was not hot or you stirred too early. Let it sit and brown before you break it up.
  • Watery bowl: the lid stayed on too long and the greens gave up their water. Uncover for a minute or two at the end to cook it off.

Variations

  • Kale or mustard greens work. Mustard greens cook faster and bite back.
  • Use ground chicken or turkey and cook it to 165 F (74 C).
  • Put a fried egg on top. The USDA guidance is to cook it until both the white and the yolk are firm.

What to drink

Hot green tea or a crisp lager.

Gear for this recipe

Some product links here earn me a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the disclosure.

  • Lodge 12 inch cast iron skillet

    Budget pick

    If I could keep one pan, it would be this. Cast iron holds heat, so meat browns instead of steaming, and it goes from the burner into the oven. It's heavy, and it wants drying and a wipe of oil after every wash. In return it'll outlast you.

    See it at the retailer

  • 3 quart stainless saucepan with lid

    Budget pick

    Rice, sauces, beans for two, and a small batch of pickling brine. What matters is a heavy base so the bottom doesn't scorch on low, and a lid that sits tight so rice steams properly. Brand matters less than those two things.

    See it at the retailer

  • Victorinox Fibrox 8 inch chef's knife

    Budget pick

    An inexpensive chef's knife, NSF certified to the sanitation standard written for commercial kitchen equipment, and stocked by restaurant supply houses. Stamped blade, light, takes an edge easily, and the handle grips when wet. One good 8 inch knife does nearly everything a knife block does.

    See it at the retailer