Asian Pork Skewers (Air Fryer or Grill)

These Asian Ginger Pork Skewers are fragrant and juicy with a Japanese-inspired flavor. They require just a handful of ingredients and can be either air-fried or grilled.

These pork skewers have a savory taste inspired by Japanese cuisine through the use of soy sauce and ginger. We love to serve them with crunchy cucumber sticks and steamed rice. If you eat them on their own, you may find them slightly on the salty side. The cucumber and rice will help to balance the saltiness.

Recipe Video

Watch how easy it is to make them in the video below.

Ingredients

The main ingredient of the dish is pork. I like to use pork shoulder since it has a combination of meat and fat. Once just cooked through, it will be juicy with natural sweetness. You will need to slice the meat thinly, but not too thin (about 1/4 inch thick), and then briefly pound it with a meat mallet or pestle to tenderize it.

Related: Pork shoulder is a versatile cut of meat. It can also be cooked whole, like in our pulled pork banh mi recipe.

For the marinade, you will need soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, and honey (or sugar). I also like to add a touch of sesame oil for extra fragrance. You can find toasted sesame oil at Asian grocery stores or on Amazon. It is fine to replace it with a different type of oil, such as olive oil.

Cooking Notes

Before cooking, marinate the pork for 25-30 minutes. Don’t forget to reserve some of the marinade to baste the pork later. I don’t recommend a longer marinating time since it can make the pork too salty. Next, thread the pork onto skewers, and now it’s time to cook.

You can either cook these Asian pork skewers in an air fryer or on the grill. We have tried both, and they turn out tasty either way. Personally, we prefer using our air fryer when making this dish just for 2-3 people. Yes, the air fryer can cook a pretty decent range of dishes besides fries and chicken wings.

These skewers taste best when served right away. Besides cucumber sticks and steamed rice, here are other dishes you can serve with it:

Other Recipes to Try

⭐️ I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.

Ginger Pork Skewers (Air Fryer or Grill)

These Asian Ginger Pork Skewers are fragrant and juicy with a savory flavor. They require just handful ingredients and can be either air-fried or grilled.

4.50 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizers and Side dishes, Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian Fusion, Japanese

Keyword: asian pork skewers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Marinating Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 3 people

Calories: 213kcal

Author: Sophie

Ingredients

US Customary – Grams

• ▢ 1 lb pork shoulder
• ▢ 1 oz ginger, peeled and sliced, then crushed (about 1½ tablespoons of crushed ginger)
• ▢ 1/2 tablespoon crushed garlic
• ▢ 4 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• ▢ 8 skewers
• ▢ cucumber sticks (to serve)

Instructions

• Slice pork into thin slices, about 1/4-inch thick. Briefly pound pork with a pestle or meat mallet (flat side) to tenderize it. Place in a bowl.
• In a small bowl, combine ginger, garlic, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Taste and adjust to your liking. Pour 2/3 of the marinade over the pork and reserve the rest to baste the pork when cooking.
• Mix the pork with the marinade and marinate at room temperature for 25-30 minutes. After that, thread onto skewers.
• Preheat your air fryer at 350°F (or 180°C) as recommended in the manual. Place the skewers in the basket and then cook for 5-6 minutes. After that, open the air fryer and baste both sides of the pork skewers with reserved marinade, and then cook for another 2-3 minutes or until pork is fully cooked.
• Alternatively, you can cook the skewers on the grill (or grill pan) for several minutes until fully cooked. Oil the grates well before grilling and use the reserved marinade to baste the pork while grilling.
• Serve immediately with cucumber sticks (and rice, optional) on the side.

Video

Notes

If you are short on time or don’t want to bother with pounding the meat, you can slice the pork a little thinner. Then reduce the marinating time to about 15 minutes, or it can be too salty. You may also need to reduce cooking time accordingly.

I like to use pork shoulder since it has a combination of meat and fat. If your pork has little fat, brush the skewers with oil before grilling/air-frying.

Cooking time may vary depending on air fryer brands and how many skewers you cook and how large they are. I use a 220V Philips XXL air fryer with a 2200 watt heating system. Additionally, I cooked the skewers in two batches so that everything was in a single layer.

Products Used

Air fryer

Meat mallet

Grill pan

Nutrition

Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 1580mg | Potassium: 411mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 2mg

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