It’s been exactly 8 months since my last post. Knowing that I should post weekly like many other bloggers, I still couldn’t find the motivation and will to get in front of my computer to write. Can you blame me with all that is happening in the world with Covid-19, politics in the USA and medical incidents in the family. My mom had a stroke and my grandson choked on food/water, both ending in the hospital during the pandemic! I’m so over 2020!!!
So instead of writing my own, I was reading other (food)blogs and trying out new stuff. No lack of inspiration, plenty of pictures on my phone to share. Just that motivation…
Today I’ve decided that enough is enough! Get it done finally! Get started already! So here I am, back behind the wheel, to share a recipe I’ve created myself from a YouTube video I watched with my mom.
Pork stew with Asian spices
We suspect it’s Cambodian, but since we don’t understand the language we can only guess. I tried Googling recipes with the spices used in this dish, and I only found one entry for a Cambodian/Khmer dish that looked similar. So here goes Pork stew with Asian spices like galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, star anise and garlic.
Pork stew with Asian spices
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Pork shoulder chops cut in strips
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp galangal root fresh
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- 4 pc kaffir lime leaves
- 2 pc star anise optional
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder or salt
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup green onion sliced
Instructions
- Rinse the pork, flatten and cut in strips
- Use a mortar & pestle (or food chopper) to mash the galangal, lemon grass, kaffir leaves and garlic. You can also cut the lemon grass in 2 inch pieces to cook, as it may get stringy when not mashed well. (Like mine did)
- Heat oil in a wok or Dutch oven (heavy pot), fry the mashed ingredients and stir frequently.
- Stir in oyster and fish sauce, bouillon powder (or salt) and sugar to a thick sauce on medium heat. Add star anise (optional).
- Add pork strips to stir fry until slightly cooked, then add 1/2 cup of water to stew for about 15 minutes on medium heat.
- When the water has evaporated, add another 1/2 cup to continue stewing, adding more water as needed, until the pork is tender.
- Once the pork is tender and tastes to your liking, sprinkle sliced green onion to incorporate, then turn off the heat.
Notes
Tip:
Cooking the meat with a little bit of water until evaporated and repeating the process is my mom’s secret to making pork or beef tender. I personally like to use the Instant Pot for that purpose 🙂 but slow cooking or stewing definitely enhances the flavors to go ‘deep.’
Get on the mailing list for more recipes.
[mailerlite_form form_id=1]