Flaherty Wines

We eat a lot of Chinese food at our house. The kids are more adventurous with Chinese than any other cuisine, and they can handle chopsticks as easily as a fork. Unfortunately, we don’t have good Chinese takeout in San Felipe, so if I want wonton soup or mu shu pork, I have to make it myself. This has been one of my biggest culinary challenges. With, say, Thai cuisine, the flavors are so big that it’s pretty easy to pull off a reasonably good curry. With Chinese, however, the flavors are fairly subtle, and it’s taken time to find the right balance. Ingredients really make a difference here. A lot of recipes call for sherry, for instance, but it’s worth using sake instead. A little goes a long way, and the result is much more satisfying.

Pork and vegetable stir-fry is a standard at our house. It’s an easy mid-week meal that we all love. The vegetables vary depending on what’s on hand. I like to use two or three, to provide contrasting color and a more interesting one-dish meal. Orange and green are a popular combination, both because the kids like the veggies and because those were Ed’s high school colors. Whatever you use, the treatment varies with the type of vegetable. Tougher veggies, like the broccoli and carrots used here, are first blanched and then only briefly stir-fried to heat them through. Softer veggies like bok choy should be cooked just until they wilt, and bean sprouts are added just before serving. The idea is to keep the veggies tender crisp. They should also be cut attractively: carrots are cut on the diagonal, and mushrooms are sliced vertically to capture the mushroom shape.

Pork and veggie stir-fry

1 pound pork loin, trimmed of all fat
4–5 cups total of veggies
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root (divided)
1 or 2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons minced green onion
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons soy sauce (divided)
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon (generous) corn starch
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for frying

Slice the pork very thinly. Sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon soy, and the sake. Gently stir to separate the slices and evenly coat with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.

Prepare the vegetables. Hard vegetables like carrots and broccoli should be blanched first: plunge into boiling water for a minute or a minute and a half; remove and rinse with cold water.

Combine the cornstarch and the soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Add the sesame oil, salt, and stock; stir to blend well.

Heat a wok with a splash of oil (about a tablespoon). Add the ginger and garlic and cook briefly, being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the pork with the marinade and stir-fry until cooked through. Add the vegetables and green onion, then stir-fry for a minute to finish cooking. Add the sauce and bring to a boil (it will thicken somewhat). Serve over rice.