Serving
(click to enlarge)

Pork & Water Spinach   -   (Ong Choy)
China

Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:
3 w/rice  
**
1-1/4 hr
Part

Ong Choy is quite popular in Asian communities, and makes a fairly simple stir fry with good flavor and interesting texture. It is illegal in many states, but allowed for certified growers in California. Authenticity: In China the amount of pork would be about half what is given here - see Western Adoption of Asian Food.



13
------
1
1-1/2
1
------
1
4
2
8
2
3/4
1
tt
oz
---
T
T
T
---
#
oz
cl
oz
T
c
T
Pork lean
-- Marinade
Cornstarch
Soy Sauce
Rice Wine (1)
---------
Ong Choy (2)
Onion
Garlic
Tomato
Oil
Stock, light
Shrimp paste (3)
Salt
    Prep
  1. Slice PORK into 1/8 inch thick strips about 2" long by 1/2 inch wide. Mix with All Marinade Items and let marinate for 3/4 hour or 2 hours refrigerated.
  2. Pinch Leaves from ONG CHOY stems, leaving the leaf stems attached to the main stems. Discard any stem pieces more than 1/4 inch diameter and cut all stems, including leaf stems, into lengths of about 1-1/2 inch. Keep separate from the leaves.
  3. Peel ONION and cut in half lengthwise, then slice thin crosswise.
  4. Crush GARLIC and chop fine.
  5. Peel TOMATO and cut into medium dice.
  6. RUN
  7. Heat Oil very hot in a wok (you'll need the space) and sir in Pork. Fry stirring until pork loses its raw color and starts to brown, being careful not to burn the fond that sticks to the wok. Remove and set aside in a strainer to drain excess oil.
  8. Add more Oil if needed and fry Onion over moderate heat until almost translucent, then stir in Garlic and fry stirring a bit longer being careful not to burn the fond adhering to the pan.
  9. Stir in Ong Choy Stems and Tomato, then Stock. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until Ong Choy stems are tender (about 4 minutes - the biggest ones should remain a bit crisp).
  10. Stir in the Ong Choy Leaves and after they have wilted thoroughly (about 2 minutes) stir the Pork back in. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally until pork is well incorporated and hot.
  11. Stir in Shrimp Paste. Adjust liquid (not too dry if it's going with rice) and Salt to taste (if any is needed).
  12. Serve hot with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:
  1. Rice Wine:   Use a good drinkable grade of Chinese rice wine, not the heavily salted cooking wines. Lacking that use sake or a dry sherry.
  2. Water Spinach:   Legal in California but contraband in some other states. For details see our Water Spinach page.
  3. Shrimp Paste:   Chinese black shrimp paste for authenticity but Southeast Asian pastes will work fine if that's what you have. For details see our Shrimp Paste page.
  4. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch
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©Andrew Grygus - ajg@aaxnet.com - Linking and non-commercial use permitted