The following stir-fried pork recipe couldn’t be easier. All you need is lean pork, some green onions, garlic, and a simple marinade. The good thing about stir-fries is that you don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients to have a perfectly presentable dish. All you need is a pan and a cooking oil that can take high heat. Woks work well for this, as do large pans of cast iron or hard anodized aluminum. I adapted this recipe from a recipe in the excellent The Cultural Revolution Cookbook by Sasha Gong and Scott Seligman. During China’s Cultural Revolution, many urban Chinese were forced to move to the countryside. This book details dishes that were made during this time, in the rural areas where only the most simple ingredients were available.
Tips for a Good Pork Stir Fry
Marinate thin strips of pork first in a mixture of soy sauce, a little sugar, and cornstarch. The cornstarch marinade is a useful trick to help keep the pork from drying out when it gets cooked on that high heat. The sugar is just enough to create some caramelization for added flavor. It helps but isn’t necessary to have a well seasoned wok. Years ago I had this big wok with wooden handles, well seasoned, in spite of a housemate’s attempt one day to scour off all of the pan’s beautiful black seasoning I had worked so hard to create. I don’t know what eventually became of that wok; these days I’m using a non-stick enamel cast iron wok. It does a great job with high heat, it’s stick-free and I don’t have to worry about it rusting.
A Recipe That’s Easy to Adapt
Consider this recipe a base for experimentation, though it is satisfying enough, unadorned. You could easily add some chile to the hot oil, or ginger, red bell pepper, mushrooms, or water chestnuts to the pork. Sprinkle on some fresh cilantro or toasted sesame seeds for a garnish too if you would like.
Try These Other Stir Fry Recipes
Sweet and Sour Chicken Ginger Beef Stir Fry Ginger Sesame Garlic Shrimp Easy Cashew Chicken Kung Pao Chicken
If you want to spice this up a bit, add some chili pepper flakes to the hot oil with the garlic, and/or add some minced fresh ginger with the pork. Adapted from The Cultural Revolution Cookbook by Sasha Gong and Scott Seligman. Put the slices under some plastic wrap or wax paper and pound them thin with a rubber mallet, meat mallet or even an empty wine bottle. This will help tenderize the meat. The slices should be about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the pork across the grain into thin strips, about 1 1/2 inches long. Add the pork strips and stir-fry until the pork changes color, about 90 seconds, stirring constantly.
