Thursday, December 18, 2008

Pork Stir-Fry



I absolutely love this dish, for 2 reasons:
1. I was finally able to finish off the Asian Pulled Pork!
2. I was able to use some of my short-cut secrets from my favorite store Trader Joes!

Now a very important side note. Trader Joes is probablly one of the best stores I have ever found! It was the one store that actually made me feel ok about buying premade sauces. I have tasted every single one of their jarred sauces and they all taste as good as homemade. I know that there are never any additional preservatives in there and I can feel good and healthy serving it up to my family and friends. It also has some of the best tasting frozen veggies. Yes thats right a culinary grad uses frozen veggies. Look sometimes it is more economical and smarter to buy frozen. All my favorite veggies are not always in season and are very expensive. So frozen is the best option. I have bought their asparagus, Asian veggie medley, corn, peas, tri-color pepper medley and even the grilled veggies! All of them tasted perfect once cooked! I am all about saving time without compromising flavor and quality of food! If you don't have one near you then email them immidately and make sure they open one up ASAP!

This stir fry is extremely satisfying and easy to make. If you have 10 minutes you can make it!

Pork Stir-Fry


-1 cup of shredded Asian Pulled Pork (finally I'm using the last of it...)
-1 packet of Trader Joe's frozen pre cooked brown rice.
*This product is fabulous! Each packet holds about 3 ounces of pre-cooked rice. All you have to do is cut a vent in the top, stick it in the microwave for 3 minutes and you have perfect rice! It's great for a quick starch when there's no time for anything else*
-1/2 cup Trader Joe's frozen tri-color pepper medley (includes red, green and yellow chopped peppers)
-1 cup Trader Joe's Asian Stir Fry Mix *This stuff has it all! Water chestnuts, mushrooms, soybeans, peapods, carrots, the works!*
-10 Trader Joe's Frozen Asparagus Spears, cut in half
-3 garlic cloves, finely minced *See hint below*
-2 tsp of ginger, minced
-1 whole medium onion in large dice
-2 scallions sliced on the bias
-1 egg
-1/4 cup of tamari sauce *Tamari sauce is a deeper colored and flavored soy sauce. It is fermented for longer and therefore has a stronger more pronounced taste*
-1 tsp sesame sauce
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-1 tsp garlic chilli paste *CAREFUL this stuff is very spicy*
-Olive oil for sauteeing

1. Pour olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and turn the heat up to med-high.
2. Toss in the onions and leave them alone. Watch them, but don't touch them. After five minutes one side of the onions should have some color, but they should still be crisp. (this is why the onions are cut in a large dice.)
3. Toss the onions a bit and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side.
4. In the meantime, take your bag of rice and stick it in the microwave for 30 seconds. You don't need the full 3 minutes because we are not cooking it all the way in the microwave, just enough to soften it.
*If you cannot get the Trader Joe's rice, just cook up some brown rice and use that instead.*
5. Add in all your veggies into the pan with the onions. Toss them around and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes or until visibly softened.
6. Crack your egg in another bowl and scramble it with a fork.
7. Make a well in your pan and pour the scrambled egg into it.















8. Let the egg settle for about 2 minutes. Then with a HEAT PROOF rubber spatuala start scrambling it. Stir it until all of it is cooked. Then combine egg with the rest of the veggies.
9. Add shredded pork and rice and combine with egg and veggie mixture.
10. Add in ginger, garlic, tamari, sesame oil, lemon juice and chilli paste.
11. Toss everything once more to make sure it's all combined and serve!


HINT: One of my favorite tools is the microplaner. It is mostly used for zesting fruits. However, i I discovered another wonderful way to use it: I grate my ginger and garlic on it! It's super fast and more effective then doing it by hand. Just be careful, those things are SHARP!

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