Chinese | Jenna's Everything Blog

This stirfry came together on a humble Monday evening–a week ago yesterday, in fact. Normally my husband cooks on Monday nights because my yoga class conveniently interferes with my regular dinner-making time. Heh heh. However, the class happened to be cancelled because my teacher was still traveling back from the Superbowl. And I never thought I’d say this–but I’m so glad yoga was cancelled! Because it allowed me to make this stirfry. And while I love stirfries and have made many in my day, the sauce in this one quickly topped the charts as the awesomest.

Adapted from Kayotic Kitchen’s Pork in Sweet Soy Sauce, this stirfry packs a flavor that had me drinking up the sauce at the end of the meal. It’s very easy to make, and I can promise you will love it.

Ingredients

(Serves 5)

2 lbs boneless pork chops

5 TBS peanut oil, divided

4 TBS dark soy sauce

4 TBS light soy sauce

4 TBS ginger syrup (‘ginger juice’)

6 TBS sriracha (sweet chili sauce)

2 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp curry powder

1 large onion

2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green)

5 cloves garlic

3 green onions

Now there’s a lot of prep work up front, but if you own a sharp knife and listen to some music, the chopping and mincing and dicing will get done in no time at all.

So! Slice the bell peppers into thin strips and then halve the strips.

Halve the onion lengthwise, then crosswise like so . . .

. . . and slice it into quarter-rings.

Set the vegetables aside.

Now grab your cloves of garlic. You can loosen the papery skin by pressing down hard with the flat of your knife, but it’s easier to just bash them a couple times with a can.

The skin comes off so easily that way! Really–the Pioneer Woman taught me.

Mince the garlic, set it aside.

Slice the pork, and set it aside.

Hint: at the end there will be a quiz asking how many times the instructions ‘set aside’ have been repeated. The winner gets a garbanzo bean.

Grab the green onions and dice them–set them aside too.

Now let’s make that killer sauce. Assemble the ranks!

Combine the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, ginger syrup, sriracha, brown sugar, chili powder and curry powder, and mix.

Set aside.

On a side note, my ginger syrup was labeled ‘ginger juice,’ but it was thick like a syrup. The ginger flavor is unbelievable. I picked up my bottle at Golden Pacific Market, but I’m sure you could find some at almost any Asian grocery store. And if you don’t have any Asian grocery stores in your neck of the woods, you can even make your own!

So now that everything is chopped and minced and diced and mixed, we’re finally ready to fry! Heat half the peanut oil in a wok or large (12”) cast iron skillet. When hot, add the vegetables and fry for 5 minutes.

They will continue to cook later, so just let them go until they’re starting to get tender and browned. Remove them and reserve them for later.

See? “Reserve them for later.” I totally avoided using “set aside” again–I’m tricky like that. So if you want that garbanzo bean, you’d better watch your back.

Heat another 1 TBS oil in the same skillet. When the skillet is very hot, add half the pork. It’s best to fry the pork in two batches, because an overcrowded pan will cause the pork to steam-cook instead of truly frying. Stirfry the first batch for 3 minutes, then remove it to a plate. FYI, you want the skillet to be so hot that the pork browns pretty much immediately, on first contact with the pan, like so:

Heat the remaining oil, and when it’s très, très hottée, add the rest of the pork. Stirfry for 3 minutes, then add the set aside pork and garlic.

Fry for another minute, stirring frequently. Confession: I did all the pork at one go, and you can see in the bubbles of the picture above that my pork did not fry correctly. Thankfully it was still delicious, though mark my words friends: it could have been deliciouser.

Okay, time to add the vegetables back in . . .

. . . and the sauce.

Give it a good stir.

Now believe me–it will seem like waaay too much sauce. But it’s not. It’s all going to turn out alright in the end. In fact, it will turn out more than alright: it will send you on a rocket to the moon.

Bring it all to a boil, and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes.

The sauce should thicken during this time and start sticking to the pork and veggies. If it’s not thick enough, mix 2-3 tsp of cornstarch with some water, stir, and add the slurry to the sauce.

I added a slurry and the consistency was great.

Stir in the green onions right before serving.

Lookin’ glorious.

Serve over rice.

You can dig into it with a spoon . . .

. . . or with chopsticks. Whatever gets it into contact with your taste buds the fastest.

One of the best parts is simply eating the sauce-soaked rice.

I’m in heaven.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Pork in a Sweet Ginger Sauce

This is so simple to throw together—please don’t be dismayed by the ingredient list. A little chopping, a little mixing, a little wok-action, and you’ve got a delicious, colorful, fresh meal for the clamoring masses.

A couple words of wisdom that apply to all stirfries:

-Do all your chopping and sauce-mixing beforehand, because once you start up the wok it comes together quickly.

-Always cook over high heat. It’s the way God designed Chinese food. Don’t go against his plan!

-Fry the meat in 2 or more batches, and wait until the oil is hot before putting it in. If you put in too much meat at once, it will crowd the pan and turn into a liquidy bubbly thing that will steam-cook instead of frying. Believe me—that happened my whole first year of stirfrying. I was too lazy, and I should probably issue an official apology to anyone who consumed those tough, colorless pieces of animal flesh.

-Be creative! Any stirfry maker will tell you that it’s extremely easy to switch up the ingredients. You can use this basic marinade with any meat, you can add any sauce (plum sauce, chili sauce, black bean sauce, etc.), and any veggies.

Ingredients

MARINADE

2 TBS soy sauce

2 TBS water

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

2 TBS Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1 tsp sesame oil

Dash white pepper

SAUCE

3 TBS hoisin sauce (heaping)

1 TBS oyster sauce

1 TBS honey

2 TBS Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1/3 c chicken stock

2 tsp corn starch

1/4 tsp five spice

2 tsp soy sauce

STIRFRY

2 TBS peanut oil, divided

3 chicken breasts (1.25 lbs)

1/2 tsp five spice, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper, divided

4 tsp honey, divided

1 large white onion

1 TBS diced ginger

4 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1 yellow squash (summer squash)

1 zucchini

1 bunch green onions

1/2 tsp salt

White rice or noodles, to serve

Start by cutting the chicken into thin strips or small cubes. I went the thin strips route.

Place it in the marinade for 15-20 minutes.

Now, grab your fresh stuff:

Mince your ginger and garlic and set them aside in a little bowl. Dice your veggies and set them aside in another bowl. Mix the sauce and chop your green onions. Everything should be ready before the frying begins.

Here we have (clockwise from top left): a bowl of chopped veggies; a bowl of marinating chicken; the sauce; a ramekin of ginger and garlic; a ramekin of green onions. Aaaah. I love order.

Heat 1 TBS of peanut oil in a wok or very large skillet. When it starts smoking, add half of the chicken (drain with a slotted spoon so the marinade stays behind for the most part). It will spatter–so be ready!

Add 2 tsp of honey, 1/8 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp of five spice to the chicken and fry over high heat for about 5 minutes.

The honey will start to caramelize, giving your chicken a lovely dark brown crust.

After 5 minutes, remove. Heat the remaining oil for the rest of the chicken and repeat the process, removing the chicken and setting it aside.

Add your ginger and garlic to the hot wok and fry for no more than 60 seconds, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn.

Add your veggies and your salt. It’s very important to salt the veggies, because that way the seasoning will adhere before the sauce comes into play. Cook for 4 minutes over high heat, stirring.