Thursday, February 5, 2009

Pork with Cashew Ginger Sauce

You know those packs of thinly sliced "assorted pork chops" that are cheaply priced? Yes, the ones that come from the blade ends, have odd bones and look nothing like the traditional T-bone pork chop. Alexis bought a pack of 4 or 5 for $1.83. No, not $1.83 per pound. The entire pack was $1.83, out the door.

So I brined them in my usual pork chop brine (2 c apple juice, 2 c water, 3/4 c sugar, 1/4 c salt) for a day (that's the discoloration, the meat was fine) thinking I'd try to grill them but I didn't want to deal with getting the snow and ice that was on my Big Green Egg, so I tried something different.....and with it hitting a high of 30f today, more importantly, something INSIDE !

Pork With Cashew Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb pork, trimmed into 1/4" x 1/4" x 1-2" strips (finger sized...ish?)
1/2 ea green bell pepper, seeded, cut into strips
1/2 ea onion, cut into strips
1/2 cup cashews, finely ground (ended up being about 2 ounces by volume, once ground up)
1/2 inch piece of ginger, finely minced
2 ounces honey
2-3 ounces lemon juice
1/2 ounce soy sauce
1/2 ounce water
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon water

Instructions:
Heat a wok seasoned with sesame oil (sparingly). Season pork with red pepper and pepper flakes. Brown in the wok over medium high heat. The edges of the pork should start to carmelize. Add the onion and pepper.

Once the onion starts to soften (about 3 minutes) add the honey, lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger, cashews and water. and toss several times. Cook for another minute or two.

Mix the starch and water together as a slurry. Stir into the wok, allowing it to thicken. Serve with fried rice.
Once again, I blew the plating. I forgot not one, but TWO garnishes - the green onion for the fried rice and a fan I made by thinly slicing the top cut of the bell pepper. Not to mention I blew the aperture setting, so the focus on the edges left much to be desired. I'm going to have to start eating, before eating..... ;)

But the flavor was incredible! A little sweet and citrus on the front end and just enough heat on the back end. I'll make this again.