This dish is made with pre-boiled liempo (pork belly), canned asparagus, sliced caps of shiitake mushrooms and sweet peas. While most Chinese-style stirfries use thinly sliced tenderloin or some other tender cut of meat for fast cooking, I found out that I can use other cuts of meat, and cut them in bigger pieces too, without unnecessarily lengthening the cooking time. I pre-boil the meat, cool it, cut it then use it for the stirfry. I know, it isn’t authentic Chinese style cooking. But I find it convenient. Besides, loins don’t have as much flavor and texture as, say, belly cut in bigger pieces. I like to be able to bite into the meat and not just get a hint of meat in my stirfry. The technique is in not overboiling the meat so that it does not disintegrate during stirfrying.
My choice of vegetables for this dish was limited to what I had in the kitchen. Don’t consider my choices as strict requirements. You can always choose other vegetables. Carrots, fresh asparagus, broccoli, other varieties of mushrooms are all good choices for stirfries.
Ingredients :
3-4 c. of boiled pork belly cut into 1″x1″x2″ pieces
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 onion, finely sliced
1 can of cut asparagus, drained (reserve the liquid)
8 shiitake mushrooms
1 c. of frozen sweet peas, thawed
broth
2 tbsps. of finely sliced onion leaves for garnish
4 tbsps. of cooking oil
1 tbsp. of tapioca or corn starch
salt
pepper
sugar
Cooking procedure :
If using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in warm water for 15-20 minutes to rehydrate. Cut off the stalks and slice the caps.
Heat the cooking oil in a wok or large shallow cooking pan. Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the pork pieces and stirfry for a few minutes. You may cook the pork until the edges are slightly browned or just until reheated.
Add the asparagus, mushrooms and peas.
Mix enough broth with the asparagus liquid to measure two cups. Pour in a cup and a half of the mixture onto the pork and vegetables and stir.
Season with salt, pepper and a little sugar.
Disperse the starch in the remaining broth. Stir into the pork and vegetables and cook until the sauce thickens and clears.
Transfer the cooked dish onto a serving platter and sprinkle with chopped onion leaves.
Serve at once.
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