Asian Pork N Peppers Food

CHINESE STUFFED PEPPERS (DIM SUM STYLE - 2 WAYS!)

Steps:

• Gently rinse the fermented black beans under cold water for a few seconds to reconstitute it and to remove some of the salt. Once the beans are a little soft, use the side of a knife or a fork to smash them flat and set them aside
• Finely chop the garlic and set it aside
• Mix the corn starch and cold water for the corn starch slurry (thickener) in a small bowl and set it aside
• In a small pot, add 2 tablespoons of oil and set the stove to medium heat.
• Once the oil is hot and shimmering, addin the garlic and black beans and cook them for about 1 minute until the garlic is soft.
• Add the rest of the ingredients for the 'Garlic Black Bean Sauce' into the pot (soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, water/stock, sugar) and mix it together. Let it cook until the sauce starts simmering
• Once the sauce starts bubbling, re-mix the corn starch slurry in the bowl (the starch might have settled to the bottom) and slowly pour it into the sauce while stirring. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
• Once the sauce thickens, the sauce is done! Set it aside with the lid on. Don't worry if a skin forms on top of the sauce once it cools - it happens.
• Defrost the shrimp by running it under cold water for 10-15 minutes and peel the shrimp.
• Once the shrimp has been peeled, use a knife to finely chop it. As I chop the shrimp, it will start to spread out on the chopping board so I like to fold the shrimp back into a pile and continue to chop it. I do this about 10-12 times until the shrimp because a chunky paste. Alternatively, you can also use a food processor which will give you a smoother shrimp paste.
• Once the shrimp has been chopped, put it in a bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients from the 'Shrimp Filling' list together and set aside.
• Take 1/2 teaspoon of filling and either microwaving it for 25-30 seconds or using a pan to cook it then taste it for flavour to make sure it is salty and flavourful. Adjust to taste.
• Once everything tastes good to you, set it aside for later
• (OPTION 2) MAKING PORK FILLING
• Place the pork in a large bowl
• Grate the garlic and place it in the bowl with the pork
• Add the remaining ingredients from the 'Pork Filling' ingredient list and mix it together.
• Mix the pork filling in one direction for 7-10 minutes. The salt combined with the overmixing will give you a springy pork texture instead of a crumbly pork texture.
• Take 1/2 teaspoon of filling and either microwaving it for 25-30 seconds or using a pan to cook it then taste it for flavour to make sure it is salty and flavourful. Adjust to taste.
• Once everything tastes good to you, set it aside for later
• Turn the pepper upside down so that the bottom is facing up. You should see 4 bumps. Imagine a line in the shape of a '+' between the bumps. Cut the pepper into quarters using the space between the bumps as a guideline. (see photo in blog for an example)
• Once you have the 4 wedges from the pepper, remove the core, seeds, and veins. Cut the top and bottom tips off the pepper so that it can lay flat against the frying pan.
• Repeat this for the rest of the peppers.
• Once all the peppers have been prepared, place a bit of corn starch in a small bowl and rub it on the inside of the peppers
• Use the filling you made and stuff each pepper wedge. Try not to over stuff it, the deeper the pockets and the thicker the filling, the harder it will be to cook the filling all the way through. I like to stuff it no more than 1 inch thick and have the filling slightly above the pepper by 1-2mm
• Once you are ready to cook them, set a frying pan to medium low heat with a bit of oil. The filling and peppers burn easily on higher heat so we want to cook it on a slightly lower temperature for a longer time so the fillings will cook all the way through.
• Place the pepper in the frying pan, filling side down and cook it for approximately 3 minutes or until the filling has browned. Once the filling is brown, flip it onto the pepper side.
• Once all the peppers have been flipped, add about 3 tablespoons of water into the frying pan and cover it with a lid. We want to steam it a little to make sure the middle is cooked all the way through. If you are using thinner peppers with less fillling, you can skip the steaming step. Steam it until the water evaporates, which is approximately 3-4 minutes
• Remove the lid and continue to let the pepper cook, on the pepper side so that starts to brown. Approximately another 3 minutes
• Once all the peppers are ready, warm up the sauce over the stove again and then spoon some of the sauce on top and enjoy!

SKILLET PORK AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Slice the pork on an angle into 1-inch-thick pieces; season with salt. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion and bell peppers; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender and slightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet. Add the pork and sear over high heat until browned, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork to the plate with the onion and peppers.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, sage and tomato paste to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste turns brick-red, about 1 minute. Add the pepperoncini slices and their liquid, then pour in the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the broth and return to a simmer. Arrange the pork in a single layer in the skillet; add the onion and peppers and sprinkle with cheese. Transfer to the oven and broil until the pork is cooked through, 4 to 7 minutes.
• Photography by Antonis Achilleos

PORK AND PEPPER STIR FRY

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together rice wine vinegar, garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Stir in pork pieces, cover, and leave at room temperature for 1/2 hour.
• Heat a large wok over medium heat. Toast almonds in hot, dry wok until golden brown and fragrant.
• Heat vegetable oil in wok over medium-high heat. Stir in marinated pork pieces, ginger, and chile paste. (Discard remaining marinade.) Mix in teriyaki sauce, and increase heat to high; cook, stirring constantly, until pork is white. Stir in peppers, and continue to stir fry until most of the liquid has evaporated. Top with toasted almond slivers and fresh mint.

ASIAN PORK 'N' PEPPERS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and broth until smooth. Stir in the oyster sauce, curry powder and hot pepper sauce; set aside. Cook spaghetti according to package directions., Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet or wok coated with cooking spray, stir-fry pork in 1 teaspoon oil until no longer pink; remove and keep warm. Stir-fry the peppers, leek and garlic in remaining oil for 3-4 minutes or just until crisp-tender. , Stir reserved broth mixture and stir into vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Drain spaghetti; add to the pan. Add pork and 1 tablespoon cilantro; toss to combine and heat through. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.,

PORK AND PEPPER STIR-FRY

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the thin strips of pork, water, cornstarch, oil, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Mix well and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
• De-seed the peppers, and thinly slice them on a diagonal. Prepare your ginger and garlic.
• Heat your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and then add the pork. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until the pork is lightly browned around the edges. Remove the pork from the wok and set aside.
• Over medium-high heat, add another tablespoon of oil, along with the ginger, garlic, and peppers, and fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The peppers should be beginning to blister from the heat, but control the heat to avoid burning the garlic! Add the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok. Stir for another 10 seconds.
• Add the pork back to the wok along with the sugar and dark soy sauce. Stir-fry for another few seconds over high heat, and serve.

CHINESE PORK AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Chop whole onions and saute in hot oil in a nonstick skillet.
• Mince garlic, and add to onion.
• Trim fat from the tenderloin, and cut the meat into 2- or 3-inch strips, 1/4 inch wide. Add to pan and cook until brown on both sides.
• Wash, trim, seed and slice whole peppers into thin strips, about 1/4 inch wide. Add to pan, and continue cooking over medium heat.
• Wash, trim and slice whole mushrooms, and grate ginger. Add mushrooms, ginger, hot-pepper flakes, sherry and soy sauce to pan, and cook until mushrooms begin to soften.
• Stir one tablespoon of water into the cornstarch to make a paste; stir in remaining water, and mix with beef broth. Add to pan, and cook over low heat, stirring, until mixture thickens.