Ginger Pork Stir Fry

My batteries are finally recharged and I just love the weather that we have been seeing over the past few days. It has me finally convinced that Spring is here to stay! I must admit I do have a little bit of spring fever in everything I am doing lately, no wonder why I am getting impatient with my kiddies. Summer is so close, I can taste it! One thing I am really looking forward to is the return of our town’s farmer’s market, we are about a month away from the opening date. I can’t wait to get my hands on all the fresh produce from local farmers, it is definitely a real treat.

When Blair and I first started dating, he had a hatred for any type of stir-fry. He hated the idea of a whole bunch of veggies with some sort of protein. When we first got married, he would whine and complain whenever I made a stir-fry. Can you blame me for wanting to make it all the time? It is the perfect “detox” meal and comes together incredibly quickly. Blair has slowly come around to the idea of stir-fry and now that he is on his vegetable kick, he loves them even more. I saw this recipe on Laura’s blog and it was immediately put on the menu plan for the following week. I love finding new ways to enjoy pork tenderloin. Fresh ginger happens to be one of my favorite flavors as well so I loved to see that this was a star of the dish. It comes together quickly and you can easily swap out the vegetables listed below for your favorites. Make this and embrace all the fresh produce of spring!

Ginger Pork Stir-Fry
Ingredients:
3/4 pound pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1 red pepper, diced
1 can water chestnuts, drained
For the marinade:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated
2 scallions, chopped
For the sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoison sauce
2 Tbsp Mirin (or dry sherry)

What you’ll do:

Combine marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Add pork to bag and toss to coat. Let marinade for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, prep the vegetables and the sauce.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli florets to the boiling water  and boil for 2 minutes. Remove, and blanch to set the color and stop the cooking process. Drain in a colander, and place florets on a clean kitchen towel to dry. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Drain the excess marinade from the pork. Heat about 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced pork; stir slowly until almost opaque; about 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate; discard the oil and wipe out the pan.Heat the pan over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and add the vegetables, starting with the red peppers followed by the broccoli and water chestnuts. Stir-fry until crisp-tender.

Add the pork back into the pan, stir to combine. Add the sauce and stir until the it starts to thicken, about 3 minutes. Thin with chicken broth, if desired. Serve over rice and garnish with sliced scallions.

Source: Tide and Thyme who adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2010

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