Sweet Ginger Pork: It's What's For Dinner

I had some pork sirloins in the freezer and was out of ideas pf what to cook for dinner today. Then I remembered a dish that my mom used to make when I was a kid. It is totally comfort food to me as it brings me back to the good old days. And the best part is, it's so easy to make.

First, slice up your pork sirloins into thin pieces. These puppies should cook quickly. Start with some julienned onions or shallots. Sweat them until they become tender. Add minced garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant. Now, add the sliced pork and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a splash of shaoxing cooking wine, 3 tablespoons of thick sweet soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of regular low sodium soy sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer, tasting the gravy and adjusting the seasoning as you go by adding sugar, salt and black pepper. Finally, just before serving, rough chop some scallions (green portion only) and add to the dish. If you have garlic chives, they would work so much better.

Now let's get on to the stir-fried vegetable dish that I also prepared to go with the pork (below):

I like this dish because it is first of all, purely vegetarian and healthy and second, very colorful and would look great when you have guests coming over for dinner. The green and wax beans plus the carrots provide some nice color contrasts to the plate and best of all, it is easy to make. Start by snipping the ends off the beans and blanching them until just tender (do not overcook). At this point, you should also blanch the sliced carrots as well. Sliced some button mushrooms and onions and mince a couple of cloves of garlic and you are ready to start stir-frying!

As usual, start by sweating the onions and then adding the minced garlic and cooking until fragrant. Then add all your vegetables together with a dash of oyster sauce, some soy sauce and a splash of water. Keep the seasoning light as you want just flavor the vegetables enough to complement the pork and not overwhelm it. Plate it up and you are ready to serve.