By Paul Cormier, Salamanders of Kemptville
School is still in and it’s still time to make hearty meals for the kids and grandkids. Hearty also means healthy and stir fries definitely qualify. Today’s Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry is a great way to feed the family. Our grandson Ayden is an artist with stir fries; as a family, we believe that the more you involve young people, the more they will appreciate good food prepared well as they grow to mature adulthood.
Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound of pork tenderloin, trimmed and cubed
- 2 cloves of garlic or 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups each of broccoli and cauliflower florets
- 1 cup of carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 cup red and/or green peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup of beef stock (or water with a squirt of Knorr’s beef extract
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (if you have it)
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (if you have it) (or: 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in a bit of water)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup of red wine
Preparation
- Marinate your pork cubes in the soy sauce and red wine for 15 minutes
- Heat a large pan or wok, heat the olive and sesame oil and add the garlic
- Stir and after a minute or so, add your onion, ginger and hoisin (or sugared water)
- Drain the marinade from your pork, retain and add the marinated meat to your pan
- Stir fry till the meat is just cooked through
- Add the remaining vegetables, beef stock and marinade
- Stir well to coat the vegetables, cover and lower your heat to simmer
- Cook till the vegetables are tender but don’t overcook
You will want to serve your stir fry over piping hot Basmati rice and with triangles of Naan bread, warmed briefly in the microwave. As always, this stir fry easily becomes vegetarian by replacing the pork with bean curd. If you wish, you can accompany with a full-bodied red wine, such as a Baco Noir.
All the best for spring weather from pcormier@ranaprocess.com.