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Stir Fry Mustard Greens
Stir Fry Mustard Greens
This is a quick and healthy side dish that takes only 5 minutes to make. Mustard greens are a little more bitter then other greens when stir frying, so the use of the sugar helps balance out the flavor. If you don’t like mustard greens; spinach, kale, and turnip greens are all great substitutes.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 5 dried chilies seeded and chopped
- 1 bunch mustard greens chopped 1” thick
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add the garlic and dried chilies. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn up the heat to high. Add in the mustard greens, sugar, salt, and sesame oil.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately or place the greens in a serving dish to stop the cooking process.
Orange Sauce
Orange Sauce
Orange flavored stir frys are a popular menu item in Chinese American restaurants. In China, oranges aren’t available. Tangerine peel and juice is what’s used. So you’ll see tangerine chicken, shrimp, etc, instead of orange. The tangerine peel usually is found dehydrated. It requires soaking in warm water for 20 minutes before being chopped up.So this particular recipe will use freshly squeezed orange juice and zest. It’s pretty straight forward from here on out. The cornstarch is used a a thickening agent. Constantly whisk while it thickens to break up any lumps. When it is finished, the orange sauce should be able to coat the back of a spoon.Orange Sauce is very versatile. It works with any protein, tofu, or vegetables. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup orange or tangerine zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice cooking wine
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp ginger minced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
- Mix together the zest, orange juice, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Stir in the garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the orange mixture.
- Cook for 4 minutes until it thickens; constantly stirring with a whisk. Take off the heat.
- Store in a container. Let cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Five Spice Pork Loin Roast
Five Spice Pork Loin Roast
This recipe uses a very basic Chinese spice blend of five spice powder, salt, brown sugar, garlic, and cayenne. This dry rub is great on pork, chicken, beef, lamb, numerous types of fish and seafood, as well as tofu.Let’s talk about pork anatomy. The pork loin can be found bone in or boneless, with boneless being more common. The rib end of the pork loin starts at the very bottom of the shoulder and runs down the whole back of the pig on both sides of the spine. It eventually ends at the top part of the butt, the sirloin. If this was a cow, it would be the ribeye turning into a ny strip turning into sirloin. Take the bone in loin and cut 1” thick chunks out of it, you get bone in pork chops. Starting half way down the pig’s back going towards the butt, on the other side of the rib bone, is the pork tenderloin. The bones that the pork loin sat upon are the baby back ribs.While I do prefer a bone in pork loin roast, you usually have to have them custom cut. There happened to be a sale on boneless pork loin in the bag for $1.99lb, so I really couldn’t pass that up. This pork loin was 4lbs, taking about 80 minutes to roast(20 minutes per lb.) Roasting on a rack helps cook the roast more evenly. Once finished, let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Leftover pork is great in fried rice, omelettes, tacos, sandwiches, plus countless other uses.
Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
- 1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the spices together.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Rub the spice blend all over the pork loin roast. Place the roast on a rack on a baking pan lined in foil. Roast for 20 minutes per lb.
- Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
