Sweet Soy Pork W Star Anise Korean-Style

This recipe was inspired from a great cookbook called Heavenly Fragrance, a collection of aromatic recipes focusing on Southeast Asian recipes. This particular dish is a variation of a Malaysian dish but I substituted some of the main ingredients for Korean ones. But little did I know that I was basically making kalbi jjim (Korean braised short ribs) but using pork instead of beef. The other difference (actually two) is that I used star anise (grounded with a mortar and pestle) for the first time and was blown away at the strength of the spice. Though it's a great aromatic ingredient, I highly recommend using it sparingly in dishes. Also, I marinated the pork in a liter of Pepsi for several hours. This may be surprising to some, but the carbonation and the sweetness do a good job at tenderizing and taking any remaining odors out of the pork. Overall, the dish turned out pretty good and I learned a good lesson in cooking today: never underestimate ingredients you have never worked with and use them sparingly the first time. www.oliviajasonkim.com