Rhoda has invited her husband Scott to be the Guest Chef for this month’s Recipe.

Like March’s Smashed Potatoes, Pork Stir-fry is another meal Scott has prepared for Rhoda on occasion.  

Pork stir-fry has only 5 main ingredients:

2 large boneless pork chops

8 ounces of whole fresh mushrooms

one bundle of green onions

one zucchini squash

8 ounces of fresh bean sprouts

Bottles of soy sauce and teriyaki sauce

These amounts serve two; increase quantities for more.

Special ingredient:  a good Rhone wine; nothing else will do.  If you have a favorite Chateau Neuf du Pape wine, buy a bottle and serve that.  If not, visit Northampton Wines, at 211-A East Broad Street in Greenville, and purchase a bottle of Usseglio Lirac Red.  It is an inexpensive but very good red Rhone wine that will complement your pork stir-fry.  A bottle will serve four glasses.  Do not refrigerate the wine.

PREPARATION:  

Preparing the ingredients before cooking will take the most time.  Rinse-wash the green onions, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Remove the stem and green skin from the zucchini, and cut it into pieces about the size of French fries.  Chop off the roots at the bottom of the green onions, and then chop the onions into pieces about the size of dice.  Slice the mushrooms vertically, into about four pieces per mushroom.  Cut the pork chops into pieces about an inch long and 1/2”-3/4” wide.  Everything should be in bite-size pieces.

All cooking is in a Wok.  If you do not have a Wok, a large frying pan will suffice.  A large cover will be necessary to help all the ingredients cook/steam properly while staying moist.

TO COOK:  

Set the heat on the stove burner to Medium-High.  The goal is to cook everything fairly quickly, preserving the flavor, texture, and taste.

After turning on the stove burner, pour in a preferred mixture (equal amounts if unsure) of the soy sauce and the teriyaki sauce into the Wok.  Pour enough to cover the bottom, and to keep ingredients wet and sizzling, but never soupy.

As the sauces start to boil, add the pieces of pork.  Stir them around, to assure cooking on all sides.  Do not let pieces stick to the Wok.  Add more sauces as needed.  When the pork is mostly light brown, stir once more and cover for 15-20 seconds.  Lift the cover and stir; and cover again.  Repeat until the pork looks fully cooked.  Spoon the pork into a bowl and cover to keep warm.  

While the pork is cooking, pour two glasses of wine to go with the two dinners.  The cork can be used to stopper the bottle and save the other half-bottle to go with another day’s dinner.

Dump the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms into the Wok.  Stir to assure all ingredients are wet, adding more sauces if needed.  Cover for 15-20 seconds.  Lift the cover and stir thoroughly; cover again.  

Repeat until everything is looking partly cooked; then add beansprouts, and sauces to keep everything wet.  As before, stir and cover for 15-20 seconds.  Repeat until the bean sprouts look cooked.

After adding the bean sprouts, move the pork onto the dinner plates.  

Once the bean sprouts are fully cooked, spoon the vegetables onto the dinner plates, next to the pork.

Dinner is served!  Enjoy!

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