This pork and asparagus stir fry is a perfect example of something that can be morphed into whatever you have on hand and comes together quickly. Steamed rice makes it a meal. Serves 4:
Asparagus and Ground Pork Stir Fry
- 3 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil, divided
- 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut on a diagonal into 1″—2″ pieces
- ½ pound ground pork
- 6 scallions, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 2″ piece of ginger, peeled, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or medium-dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Heat 1 teaspoon of peanut oil in a large skillet over high. Once pan is hot (oil will be lightly smoking), add half of asparagus and a couple pinches of salt and cook, tossing only once or twice until crisp-tender and lightly browned and starting to blister, about 4 minutes. Transfer asparagus to a plate. Add 1 teaspoon peanut oil to skillet (no need to wipe it out) and repeat process with remaining asparagus.
Reduce heat to medium-high; add remaining 1 teaspoon peanut oil to skillet, then add pork, spreading out into an even layer. Season with a couple pinches of salt and cook, undisturbed, until meat begins to brown underneath, about 2 minutes. Break up meat with a wooden spoon and add scallions, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring, until pork is crisp and mixture is very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add wine and soy sauce and return asparagus to skillet. Cook, turning to coat with pork mixture until heated through, about 1 minute.
Transfer stir-fry to a platter or large shallow bowl and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve with rice and enjoy!
My verdict:
This lends itself to lots of variations and all of them good. We had a small amount of ground beef, so used that instead of pork. And the house that has a ton of booze doesn’t have any Chinese rice wine or sherry, so I splashed in some white wine that was open. I also added a handful of cremini mushrooms to the asparagus as they were cooking.
The original recipe calls for adding some chili crisp sauce to it when you serve it. It’s a nice touch, but if your coronavirus pantry doesn’t have any chili crisp, some red pepper flakes or Sriracha would be fine. I wanted to add a little lime when I served it but was too lazy to get up. Fish sauce could also work with or instead of the soy sauce. Enjoy!
