For more easy weeknight dinner recipes, check out my mapo tofu recipe.

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Basil Garlic Pork Stir Fry

A spicy, garlicky, pork stir fry with lots of fresh basil.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, thai

Keyword basil pork stir fry, garlic basil pork stir fry, garlic pork stir fry, pork stir fry

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Total Time 11 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork loin thinly sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp xiaoxing wine
• 1 handful fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion thinly sliced
• 1 serrano chile thinly sliced
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp corn starch

Instructions

Mix Sauce

• Mix together dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, xiaoxing wine, water, and corn starch. Set aside.

Stir Fry

• Season pork with salt. Allow to sit 5 minutes.
• Heat pan on high heat. When pan is hot, add in oil. Stir fry pork 3 minutes until slightly browned. Remove pork from pan. Add in garlic, onions and serrano chile. Saute 2 minutes until slightly softened.
• Then add in pork, basil, and sauce mixture. Stir fry another minute. Then serve with steamed rice.

You can use either Japanese or Italian eggplant for this dish.

For other lightened Asian recipes, check out my tofu and snow pea stir fry.

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Spicy Garlic Eggplant

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Asian

Keyword eggplant stir fry, spicy eggplant

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 Italian eggplant cut into 2 inch matchsticks
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp ginger minced
• 1 tsp spicy bean paste
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp Sambal chile sauce
• 1 handful spring onion chopped

Instructions

• Fill a large steamer pot with water. Steam eggplant for 15 minutes until softened. Then remove and set aside.
• Mix together spicy bean paste, soy sauce, sugar, and sambal chile sauce. Set aside.
• Heat sesame oil in pan. Add in garlic and ginger. Saute 1 minute.
• Add in eggplant and stir fry gently for 1 minute. Then add sauce mixture and stir fry for another minute. Add in green onion. Then remove from heat and serve.

Tomato Beef Stir Fry for Dinner

Continuing on my lower carb eating goals, I have been trying out some easy stir-fry recipes such as this tomato beef stir fry. I am a big fan of easy dinner recipes, and the stir-fry cooking method allows for quick one pan cooking. I love this stir-fry recipe because it is so simple and quick, but also authentic. Because of the practice of cooking meat and veggies on very high heat, stir-fries often carry a rich smokiness that comes from a hot wok (referred to as “wok hei” or “”breath of wok”” in Cantonese). This is analogous to the smoky quality of American barbecue, as it differentiates truly great stir-fry from mediocre stir fry.

What is authentic stir fry?

Traditional stir-fry recipes in Chinese cuisine require copious amounts of oil, a practice that I try to modify in my own home cooking. I remember feeling appalled when I saw my parents cook a stir-fried vegetable dish at home. You would never think that almost half a cup of oil went into the healthy-looking vegetable dish served on our dinner table. Of course, I appreciate that the oil provides a certain level of flavor and texture in Chinese cuisine, so I do not believe in stir frying completely without oil. But I have found my own ways of achieving a similar flavor profile while saving on calories and fat. In a way, this is a low-fat stir-fry recipe.

For other delicious stir fry recipes, check out my soy sauce steak and basil beef stir fry.

How to stir fry in a wok or large pan

Your basic stir-fry recipe is comprised of the following:

1. Oil (lots of it)
2. Aromatics (garlic, ginger, scallion, chile)
3. Thinly sliced vegetables
4. Thinly sliced meat
5. Flavoring sauce (salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste, black bean sauce, etc…)

Once you have this formula down, you can be creative and make new combinations of your own stir-fry recipes.

In stir-fries, it is absolutely essential that you first start by frying your aromatics in hot oil. This perfumes and flavors your oil so that the veggies and meat that are eventually cooked in it will also take on the flavor profile of the aromatics. But be careful not to burn your aromatics, especially garlic.

Once your garlic turns somewhat golden brown, dump all your vegetables in and stir vigorously. This will release much-needed liquid to prevent your garlic from burning.

Another trick is to splash a bit of water into your wok/pan and then cover with a lid to create some steam for more rapid cooking. My family would gasp in outrage at this suggestion because it is not an “authentic”stir-fry cooking method. However, the other option would be to dump 1/4 -1/2 a cup of frying oil into your wok/pan at the beginning. You do you, boo!

Stir-fried vegetables should always retain some level of crunch after cooking. When in doubt, slightly undercook your veggies. That way, the residual heat will do the rest of the softening of the veggies. For people who follow a meal prep life, undercooking the veggies is a good strategy to give your veggies the perfect texture after re-heating.

How to use sesame oil

This is actually a dish that benefits from such a splash of sesame oil. So, drizzle away! But not too much. Too much of sesame oil will make your dish taste like dirt. Yuck.

Also, I know I often rant about how adding sesame oil to a dish does not necessarily make it an authentic Asian dish. I get upset when I think about some famous chefs and their take on Asian food because it always involves sesame oil. And that is just not the case.

Clearly, some dishes greatly benefit from the rich earthiness of sesame oil, but there are also times that it does not belong.

Other appropriate uses for sesame oil

• dipping sauce for dumplings
• tiny drizzle on top of chicken or pork rice congee
• in dumpling filling
• seasoning vegetables in most Korean dishes

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Tomato Beef Stir Fry

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Asian, beef, stir fry recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 lb Flank steak cut into thin strips
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bunch garlic chive cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 tomatoes cut into 1-inch wedges
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 drizzle sesame oil optional

Instructions

• Slice beef and marinate in soy sauce, corn starch, and pepper. Set aside and marinate for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil on a wok or large pan on high. When oil becomes shimmery, add in ginger and saute 1 minute. Then add in marinted beef on high heat, moving beef around occasionally to evenly cook ~3-5 minutes. Set beef aside.
• Add additional oil. When oil is shimmery, add in garlic and allow to become light brown. Then add in tomatoes and garlic chives. Allow tomatoes and garlic chives to slightly soften, after about 3 minutes of cooking.
• Add cooked beef into the tomato and garlic chives to stir fry together. Add in oyster sauce, sugar, and a small drizzle of sesame oil.
• Taste for seasoning and add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar to taste.