Stir fried pork with red peppers and cashews

Tonight I was craving some Chinese flavours.  One of the good things about living in a city that has such a cosmopolitan population is that you can eat in restaurants of almost every cuisine in the world and there are not many ingredients that you can not find if you try hard enough. I also have friends from many different cultures and I am always trying to pick their brains for techniques and recipes.

I have been working on my Chinese food over the years, and though this may not be completely authentic, I think it is pretty close and it tastes good.

Serves 3

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of cashew nuts (or you could use peanuts)
• 1 pork tenderloin chopped (or you could use chicken breasts cut up too)
• 3 green onions sliced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon of grated ginger
• 1 red pepper sliced

Sauce

• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons of mirin (or white wine)
• 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons of cornstarch

Cut up and gather all the ingredients

Heat a wok or nonstick frying pan then add the oil, make sure it is hot and add the nuts fry for a couple of minutes until the are a shade or two darker, you have to stir frequently.

Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add a little more oil then bring back up to heat and add the pork stir fry until the pork is browned and cooked through, just a couple of minutes.

Add the onion, garlic and ginger stir fry for a farther couple more minutes.  Then add the red pepper.

Cook until the red pepper is just softened then add the sauce.  Bring to a boil so that the sauce thickens up and serve.

We had this tonight with some rice (cooked in my beloved rice cooker) and some baby bok choy steamed with a little fish sauce.

Just what I was feeling like and all with things I had in the house, of course if I hadn't had red pepper it could have been broccoli, or green beans or whatever vegetable I did have.