Recipe: Kung Pao Pork + Fried Rice

Today? Today me and the kitchen were not friends. Yet in spite of that, this meal turned out delicious.

But like I said, today was not a good cooking today. I dropped the radishes all over the floor. I put an ingredient from the fried rice into the sauce for the kung pao pork, instead of the ingredient that I made a special trip to the store for today. In the middle of making the fried rice, I discovered that we were out of eggs. We are never out of eggs. Anyways, you get the idea. Luckily both of these recipes are very forgiving.

The pork needs to marinate for about half an hour before you start cooking it, so you do need to think a little ahead of time if you want to make this. While it's stewing in the fridge, get going on chopping up some veggies. You can throw pretty much any vegetables that you feel like in the fried rice, which is partly what makes it so great!

Once the pork is done marinating, brown it in oil in a wok (or frying pan if you're too lazy to get the wok off the top shelf). Not that I would do that. Nope.

Yum, yum, yum. As soon as the pork is browned, pull it off the pan and throw in the veggies: onions, peppers, snow peas. Then pour the sauce over it and bring to a boil.

It'll start to thicken up because of the cornstarch, so you'll want to add the pork back in fairly quickly. Make sure the pork is cooked all the way through, but don't overdo it. You want it to be tender!

In the meantime, while this is all going on, you can be frying up your rice and whatever veggies you decided to add. Normally, of course, there are eggs in fried rice, but as previously mentioned, I didn't have any. Didn't matter. Still turned out great. Whip up a little mixture of sesame oil, soy sauce and chili paste and pour it over the rice. Add some chopped green onions at the last minute, and voila!

Delicious! I like to fry it until the bottom gets just a tiny bit crispy, and then flip it over and let the other side crisp up as well. Yum.

When the pork is done, pile it on top of some rice, top with unsalted peanuts or cashews, and dig in!

Here are the recipes (although admittedly, the fried recipe was only very loosely followed), both taken from The Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich.

Kung Pao Pork
Ingredients:
1 lb (500g) pork tenderloin (or boneless chicken), cut in 1-inch cubes
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Asian chili paste
1 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp Chinese black bean sauce (or, you know, hoisin sauce. Cuz that's what I did by accident.)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Asian chili paste
1 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 small onion, slivered
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small dried red chili pepper, crumbled
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup snow peas
2 green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts or cashews

Directions:
1. Marinate the pork in the soy sauce, chili paste, and 1 tsp cornstarch for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

2. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the stock, black bean sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Set aside.

3. Heat a wok over high heat for 30 seconds before adding 1 Tbsp of the oil. Add the pork to the hot wok and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until it's no longer pink. Remove the pork and set aside.

4. Add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, dried chili pepper, bell pepper, and snow peas. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the reserved sauce and bring to a boil.

5. Return the pork to the wok. Bring to a boil and heat through. Stir in the peanuts and serve immediately over rice or noodles.

Serves 4.




Special Fried Rice
Ingredients:
Any vegetables you feel like (I used carrots, peppers, and radishes)
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3-4 cups leftover cooked rice, cold
2 eggs, lightly beaten with 1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce or hoisin sauce
2 green onions, chopped
Optional: 1/2 lb cooked chicken, roast pork, or turkey, chopped into small cubes

Directions;
1. Wash and chop whichever vegetables you're choosing to use.

2. Place a wok over high heat for 30 seconds, then drizzle with the oil. Immediately add the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Turn the heat down slightly and add the rice, spreading it evenly over the surface of the pan. Stir-fry the rice for 1-2 minutes, and then add the veggies. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer, stirring, until the vegetables begin to soften. If you're adding meat to your rice, than do so.

3. Push the rice mixture to one side of the pan and add the beaten eggs, stirring to lightly scramble before mixing into the rice. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy and oyster sauce and drizzle over the stir-fried rice. Toss to combine. Add the green onions and serve immediately.

Serve 4.


And just because kung pao is super fun to say, and I'm a nerd, I'll leave you with this image. I'll leave it to you to figure out why. :)