Ginger Peach Pork Stir-fry

I love pork because it is so versatile. I’ve seen it stuffed with sweet apples, savory cheeses. I’ve seen it rubbed with spices and grilled. I’ve seen it cut into pieces and put into casserole. And I’ve seen it in the most amazing Asian dishes. Asian pork often thinly sliced and marinated for hours.

In my organic food delivery today from Door to Door Organics, I received 3 gorgeous yellow peaches. It took every ounce of me to ignore them until dinnertime. I was in the mood for a sweet dish and I’ve been greatly inspired by Asian cuisine recently. Some internet research brought me to the idea of a ginger and peach stirfry. I never found a recipe I quite liked, so this recipe is a mashup of many.

Ginger Peach Pork Stir-fry

Ingredients:

3 peaches
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 lemon
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 medium onion, sliced
3 center cut pork chops
Other veggies (broccoli, green pepper, carrots, etc) as you’d like
Peanut oil
Flour
Rice or Noodles

Directions:

Slice the pork against the grain, place into a shallow dish. Add the juice of the lemon, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic powder. Allow to marinate for 1 to 24 hours.

Pictured with the onions immediately prior to cooking (do not marinate onions)

Cook your rice or noodles.

Take your peaches and slice them off the pit. Carefully remove the skins using a sharp knife. In a saucepan or shallow frying pan, heat a small amount of oil and add the peaches, sugar, and a portion of the water. Over medium-low heat, cook the peaches slowly, adding water as it evaporates. Cook until the peaches are a uniform darker yellow color and are slightly softened (see pictures).

Slice onion and other vegetables. *NOTE* If cooking carrots, add the carrots to the heated oil first, before the meat.

Heat the peanut oil in your wok until spitting. Add the meat and marinade along with onions. Cook 1-2 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables. After another 2-3 minutes, add the peaches and flour, allow to thicken.

Serve over rice or noodles.

BBQ Pork Puff Pastry

I don’t know about you, but whenever I make bbq pulled pork, I always have way way too much. There’s only 2 of us, and even 1/2 a shoulder makes too much food. I send it with my husband for lunch for a few days, but I always waste some. I dislike having 2 of the same dinners in the same week, so the leftovers go bad. This time, I decided to get creative. This dish was inspired by Dim Sum style food, though it is not strictly Asian. The traditional BBQ flavors are there, but we’re going to accent the dish with some Asian influence.

Now, I don’t think my pastries were supposed to puff up as much as they did, but I honestly couldn’t tell you why they did this. Either way, they were DELICIOUS! Enjoy.

BBQ Pork Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

Appx. 300g leftover pulled pork
1 small onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tsp sesame seed oil
Black Pepper, Salt to taste
Peanut Oil
1/4 cup water
2 tsp corn starch
Sesame seeds

1 pack puff pastry sheets (2 sheets)
1 egg + 1 tbsp water

Directions:

Heat the peanut oil in your pan, then sauté the onion until translucent. Add the pork, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and salt/pepper. Heat for 3-4 minutes, then add the water and corn starch. Heat until thickened, then place the mixture in a new container in the fridge for 30 minutes.

During this time, remove the puff pastry sheets from the freezer and allow to thaw (about 30 minutes). Now preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly beat the egg and 1 tbsp water for an egg wash. Then, lightly flour your work surface and spread out the doughs. Cut each dough into approximately 6 pieces, or 4″x5″ sections.

Once the pork mixture is cool, place approximately 2 tbsp of the pork on the center of the dough.

Using a brush, cover the edges of the dough around the meat with the egg was, then fold the dough over the meat. Use a fork and press down on the edges of the dough to seal the pastry.

Brush the pastry with egg wash, then sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately.