Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry

Over the past few posts, I've walked you through several pulled pork recipes from my friend Nick's cookbook: Love Your Leftovers. You can find the core pulled pork recipe in my post from last week.

I had frozen about a half pound of the pulled pork when I initially cooked it a few weeks back. I decided it was time to make one more dish with the leftovers and I must say this was my favorite of the dishes I've made from the book so far. Perhaps it's because I love a good stir fry, or because it was the first time I utilized pork in this way in a stir fry, but this was awesome. I cut the recipe in half and got three meals out of it, but I'm including the recipe for four below.

I enjoyed this while sitting on my roof deck and skimming through some issues of Cooking Light that have been piling up during my busy summer. I'll be back to cooking dishes from other sources next week, but you better believe I'll be revisiting Nick's book and blog again soon. Because I just can't quit you, Nick Evans.

Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of thin asparagus
• 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger
• 2 large shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. (about 3 cups) chopped pulled pork
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups sugar snap peas
• 3 TB vegetable oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Cooked rice for serving

Stir-Fry Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TB rice wine vinegar
• 2 TB fish sauce
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside for later.

Cut off hard ends from asparagus and chop into 1-inch long pieces.

Mince the garlic, shallots and garlic finely and set aside.

If there is liquid in the pulled pork (if you cooked this fresh), drain off as much as possible. You'll want the pork to be relatively dry to start. For the recently thawed pork that I used, this was not an issue.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and season well with kosher salt. Once boiling, add the asparagus and snap peas and cook for 1 minute. Drain and rinse vegetables under cold water to stop the cooking.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Once hot, add oil followed by pork. Cook pork over high heat until it starts to turn crispy, about 5 minutes.

Add diced red peppers and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic, shallot, and ginger to wok and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to ensure ingredients don't burn.

Add the sauce to the pan and toss to combine. Let sauce reduce for about 30 seconds.

Finally add blanched vegetables and toss to combine. Serve stir-fry immediately over rice.