The Best Pork Stir Fry
Prep
15m
Cook
8m
Total
23m
Bigly says
OK, here we go. Pork stir fry. The fastest, most efficient, most beautiful weeknight dinner ever invented by human beings. Did you ever notice that the people who say they 'don't have time to cook' are the same people who order takeout that arrives in 47 minutes when a real stir fry takes EIGHT? Eight minutes! Eight! From cold pan to dinner on the table! It's a scandal that more people don't know this. The takeout industry doesn't want you to know. They've been getting away with it for years.
A guy named Ramón taught me about high heat. Not the Ramón from the tacos — different Ramón, this one ran a kitchen in Queens, hands like leather, never raised his voice once in twenty years. He told me: 'The wok is hot or the wok is wrong.' That's it. That's the whole secret. Most home cooks turn the burner up to medium and stand there gently sweating their bell peppers like they're afraid the food will hear them. The food can't hear you. The food needs FIRE. The food needs the smoky wok-hei thing the restaurants do, and you CAN do it at home, you just have to commit. Crank it up. Get it ripping. Then start.
Here's the other secret — velveting. We toss the pork in a little cornstarch and soy and a splash of oil and we let it sit. This is what makes the pork at a restaurant silky and tender, while the pork in most home stir fries is gray and chewy and a little sad. Velveting is not optional. The food media won't say it because it sounds fancy. It is not fancy. It is twenty seconds of stirring in a bowl. Do it. Your pork will thank you. Your dinner guests will thank you. I'm thanking you in advance.
Ingredients
- 1 lbpork tenderloin or pork loin, thinly sliced(freeze for 20 minutes first, slices like a dream)
- 1 tbsp (for the pork)cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (for the pork)soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (for the pork)Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- 3 tbsp totalneutral oil with high smoke point(avocado, peanut, or grapeseed — olive oil here is a CRIME)
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 tbspfresh ginger, minced
- 1red bell pepper, sliced
- 1green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 mediumyellow onion, sliced
- 4scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 tbspsoy sauce (for sauce)
- 2 tbspoyster sauce
- 1 tbsprice vinegar
- 2 tspbrown sugar
- 1 tspcornstarch (for sauce)
- 1/4 cupchicken or pork stock
- 1 tsptoasted sesame oil(added at the end, never in the pan, ever)
- 1/2 tsp (optional)red pepper flakes
- for servingsteamed white rice
Steps
- 1
In a medium bowl, toss the sliced pork with 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Let sit 10 minutes.
- 2
In a small bowl, whisk the sauce: 3 tbsp soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, and stock. Set aside.
- 3
Have all ingredients prepped and within arm's reach of the stove before you turn the heat on. This dish moves fast.
- 4
Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over the highest heat your stove can produce until it smokes lightly, about 2 minutes.
- 5
Add 2 tbsp neutral oil and swirl. Add the pork in a single layer. Let it sear 30 seconds undisturbed, then stir-fry 1-2 minutes until just cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
- 6
Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil. Add the onion and both bell peppers. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes until charred at the edges but still crisp.
- 7
Push the vegetables to the side. Add the garlic and ginger to the cleared spot and stir-fry 20 seconds until fragrant.
- 8
Return the pork to the pan. Add the scallions. Stir to combine.
- 9
Whisk the sauce again (cornstarch settles), pour into the pan, and stir constantly. The sauce will thicken and turn glossy in about 30 seconds.
- 10
Remove from heat. Drizzle with the toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes if using.
- 11
Serve immediately over steamed white rice.
One more thing
Twenty minutes, start to finish, and you've got something that beats the takeout place down the street into the dirt. Not even close. It's a slaughter. Make it again Wednesday. Make it again Friday. Switch the pork for chicken. Switch the peppers for broccoli. The technique is the recipe — once you have the technique, the rest is jazz. And there you have it.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Pork Stir Fry.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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