Chez Chat -- Le Chef: Spicy Stir-Fry
SPICY STIR-FRY
Stir-fry can be a healthy and efficient way to use left over meat. Chinese flavoring is great but can get repetitious. This one goes in a bit of a different direction.
Proportions are flexible, add more of everything to feed a bunch, less to just feed yourself. Substitutions are certainly permissible in the vegetables.
Cold roast pork, preferably charcoal roasted
Celery
Green Onion
Napa Cabbage
Mushrooms
Garlic
Cajun Seasoning
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Corn Starch
Water
Brown rice
Cut the pork into 1/4 inch by ½ inch by 3 inch strips, or thereabouts, removing larger bits of fat. Dust with Cajun seasoning to taste, ½ t per cup, or more if you want it hotter. Sprinkle with Worcestershire, about 1 T per cup. Cover with plastic and set aside. Meat should marinate an hour, a bit more won't hurt. 2 cups suggested.
Slice celery on the diagonal, 1/4 inch thick, 2 to 2 ½ inches long. About 2 cups suggested, depending on the length of the strips.
Slice Napa Cabbage across into ½ inch strips. Again 2 cups loosely packed suggested.
Slice 4 to 6 green onions, depending on diameter, green and white parts, about ½ inch for the white and 3/4 inch for the green.
Slice about 6 0z white mushrooms into 1/4 inch pieces (or buy pre-sliced).
Mince 1 medium sized garlic clove.
1 cup (dry) brown rice.
Rinse and soak the rice covered by about an inch of water for at least 1 hour prior to cooking it. Like dried beans, brown rice benefits from a pre-soak and will be more tender and cook more quickly if soaked ahead of time. Drain off the soaking water, replace with fresh water, and cook as usual.
(If using white rice, do not soak, just rinse before cooking.)
Begin cooking vegetables, starting with celery, in wok or stir-fry pan with a bit of high temperature stable oil. If using skillet with more oil, drain veggies well. Set aside.
Napa Cabbage, then mushrooms, green onions follow, all kept warm while doing next batch. Add enough oil to keep the meat from sticking and crisp it a bit while heating it through. Add garlic for last minute.
While meat is cooking add a tablespoon of corn starch, a tablespoon of Worcestershire, 1 ½ T soy sauce and 4 oz water to the marinade bowl with any marinade left and stir. Pour over meat and cook till clear, add veggies and stir. Move to serving bowl.
Serve with rice.
A shot or several of hot sauce can be used to adjust the spiciness if desired.
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