Pork and Pepper Stir-Fry

 

The recipe for this tasty dish came from an Abrams Books recent release,  In Praise of Home Cooking: Reasons and Recipes by Liana Krissoff. This book is unique among cookbooks in that it is equally valuable to the novice cook as it is to the more experienced. Krissoff deconstructs difficult processes and recipes, making them exceedingly doable for anyone interested in preparing a meal.

Pork and Pepper Stir-Fry

 1½ c. sliced red bell pepper (about one small)

1½ c. fresh snow peas

4 scallions, cut into pieces

2 cloves, garlic, chopped

4 coins ginger, chopped

1 c. chicken stock, preferably unsalted

1 T. cornstarch

2 to 3 T. Chinese light or regular soy sauce

1 T. sweet soy sauce (optional; a good pinch of brown sugar works if you don’t have sweet soy sauce)

Several grinds of black pepper

2 T. vegetable oil

8 oz. pork loin or lean steak, cut into very thin slivers

Pinch of kosher salt.

Cooked rice for servings

 Cooking a stir-fry goes quickly, so set out all the ingredients before you turn on the burner: put the bell pepper, snow peas, and scallions in a bowl. Put the garlic and ginger in a little pile on the cutting board or in a small cup. In a glass measuring cup, stir together the stock, cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of the light soy sauce, the sweet soy sauce, and black pepper, and leave the spoon in the cup.

 In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium high heat. When it’s hot, add the pork, spreading it out evenly in the pan. Cook, undisturbed, for three minutes so the pork browns nicely on the bottom, then use a thin, metal spatula (or wok spatula) to turn and stir the slices. Cook for another one to two minutes or so, until no pink remains on the surface of the slices.

 Scoot the pork to one side of the pan and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the empty side of the pan. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds, then mix it in with the pork. Pile the bell pepper, snow peas, and scallions into the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for about three minutes, until the snow peas are a brighter shade of green. Give the stock mixture a stir and pour it into the pan. Stir and turn the vegetables and pork in the pan for about two minutes until the bell pepper is just tender and the sauce is thickened and glossy. Taste and add more soy sauce if necessary. Spoon over hot rice in individual plates, and serve.

 Note: I like mushrooms, so I hydrated a 2 oz. package of Melissa’s dried portobello mushrooms, drained them, and stirred them in along with the other vegetables.

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 Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Abrams Books as a member of their Abrams Dinner Party 2022-2023.