From Bill’s Everyday Asian by Bill Granger
Last year I made a conscious decision to cut down on the amount of
cookbooks I was buying – not only was I running out of space but I just
didn’t have enough time to try out all of the recipes that I wanted to.
This means that I am a little more select now in the books that I
do buy and that’s no bad thing really. I had my eye on this book
ever since it was released last year – I am fast becoming a big fan of
Mr Granger since receiving my first book of his, Bill’s Basics. I
always find around New Year that I start craving simple but spicier food
after all the rich indulgences of Christmas so Bill’s Everyday Asian
made perfect sense as the first book purchase of the year. And this
book really didn’t disappoint – there are so many inspiring, simple,
fresh and no doubt delicious dishes in here – I love that in the
introduction Bill states that his one rule is “that nothing should
require a list of a hundred hard-to-find ingredients”. This is my
type of cooking.
So on to this dish in particular. This is the perfect quick Friday night dish but much cleaner and lighter than anything you could order from the local take-away. It requires very little by way of ingredients or prep and my family really loved it. The only thing you need to ensure before starting is that, as with most Asian cooking, you need to have everything prepared and ready to go once the wok goes on. Oh and I couldn’t get pork fillet so I used pork loin. Still delicious.
To serve 4
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (I used dark soy)
- 2 tablespoons of Mirin
- 2 tablespoons of Hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
- 800g pork fillet cut in to 5mm strips
- 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
- 4 garlic cloves crushed with the flat of a knife
- 3 red chillies, cut in half lengthways and de-seeded
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 6 bulb spring onions, halved or one red onion cut in to wedges
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (I used light here)
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts
Mix together the dark soy sauce, Mirin, Hoisin sauce, sesame oil and chilli flakes in a shallow dish. Add the pork and toss well to coat and then leave covered in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or longer if you have time.
Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When smoking add half of the pork and stir fry for around 2 minutes. Remove from the wok and repeat with the remaining pork.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and add the garlic, chillies, 1 tablespoon of water and the onions. Stir-fry for 4 minutes but covering the wok for the final 2 minutes. Now add the light soy sauce and sugar and then return the pork back to the wok and toss to coat. Cook for a further minute and garnish with the roasted peanuts. I served this dish on top of some egg fried rice.
This reads like one of those delicious meals you have in a good Chinese restaurant, and wonder how to do it at home! Chinese New Year is only two weeks away and we’ll be looking for ideas. But I won’t be waiting till then….will go to the Asia market early next week to stock up for this dish. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hello and thanks for the comment. That’s exactly what this dish is like :) we have only one Chinese take-away nearby and it is dire so I am always looking for things like this to cook at home.
Don’t like eating Chinese out but I’m loving this recipe: simple, fast and healthy. Thanks million, I’ll try it tomorrow night :D
Hi Mademoiselle :) my husband said this was so much cleaner than dishes from the take-away etc – it’s no where near as gloopy. Let me know what you think.
I’m totally with you on wanting to start the New Year eating simpler and spicier foods. Somehow it seems more cleansing and yet it doesn’t seem like you are depriving yourself of any flavour at all! I bought this book for someone this Christmas and now feel as though I should buy it for myself too. Yet another book to add to the already overflowing shelves – I might wait a while though as like you, I have too many cookbooks to cook from.
Hi Sharon – That’s exactly how I feel – I want less fussy or heavy food but lots of flavour. I made another dish from it on Saturday and both husband and son were raving about it. I think this is a book I will use lots so perhaps you could make a special dispensation for it? :)
This sounds so tasty! I have Bill Granger Every Day and Bill’s Basics, I love his simple, fresh cooking. This is exactly what I’m craving these days.
Hi Kristin :) I still have to buy Bill’s Every Day and after trying out recipes from the two I have I think I will bump it up the list :) I’ve earmarked so many recipes in Everyday Asian and another thing I love is that nearly all would be quite cheap to make. A big plus!
MissusVee here, Glutton. I was looking for that pork char siu recipe but came across this one. I think I might just go for this today. I’m so fickle!
Hello MissusVee :) this dish is lovely! Hope you enjoyed it.
Delicious. I made enough for two and ate every last bit of it!
Delighted! It’s such a nice dish.