Pork Chop Suey

Pork Chop Suey

1 lb lean boneless pork
3/4 cup water
3 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp dry sherry or water
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp cooking oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup thinly bias-sliced celery (2 stalks)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups fresh bean sprouts or one 16-oz can bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
10 green onions, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts or bamboo shoots, drained
2 to 3 cups hot cooked rice

1. If desired, partially freeze meat for easier slicing. Trim fat from meat. Thinly slice pork across the grain into bite-sized strips. For sauce, in a bowl stir together water, soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry, bouillon granules, and pepper. Set aside
2. Pour oil into a wok or 12-inch skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking). Preheat over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ginger in hot oil for 15 seconds. Add celery; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, fresh bean sprouts (if using), and green onions. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until the celery is crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok.
3. Add half of the pork to hot wok. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove from wok. Repeat with remaining pork. Return all meat to wok. Push from center of wok.
4. Stir sauce; add to center of wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add cooked vegetables, water chestnuts, and, if using, canned bean sprouts. Cook and stir until heated through. Serve with hot cooked rice.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I had a couple of pork chops in my freezer that I needed to find something to do with. Since only two chops won't feed the three of us, I decided to try something new and different with the meat other than my usual oven-baked fare. Here's a recipe I found in my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

The ingredients (minus the pork chops which I forgot to include in the picture):

I didn't freeze the meat like the recipe encourages but didn't have much trouble slicing it anyway.

I recognized the smell of the sauce as soon as I got it mixed together. I didn't even have to cook it before the smell took me back to a recipe my mother made when I was young.

I have never worked with fresh ginger. I did have some dried ground ginger in my cupboard so I elected to use that instead of buying something else. My cookbook had a substitution of 1/4 tsp ground for every 1 tsp fresh grated ginger. Frying it up (even with the dried variety) smelled incredible.

I bought the presliced mushrooms at the supermarket with hopes that it would save me some preparation time. The chunks were really large. Here they are with the rest of the vegetables as they stirfried.

I had a little bit of difficulty separating the pork slices to cook them. I had to get out my tongs because the slices wanted to stick together and cook in one big hunk. I don't know why it surprised me that the pork smelled a lot like bacon while it cooked; they are both pork afterall. It was still a bit strange to me.

This sauce bubbled up quickly. It would be a good idea to have your

can(s) open before getting to this step because the sauce cooks up too quickly to do any further preparation in the meanwhile.

I used canned bean sprouts in this recipe and I completely forgot to rinse them before adding them to the suey. No one got sick and it didn't taste strange so I guess it wasn't a big issue. Here is the suey all mixed up and heating through.

The final product: this was pretty good. My husband (who is not an adventureous eater by any stretch of the imagination) gave it a positive review. I was a little shocked because I figured the bean sprouts would spook him. When I make this again, I will either cut my own mushrooms or find smaller slices because the huge chunks were a bit much. I will also go to the extra effort to find reduced-sodium soy sauce because I went ahead and used the regular and it made the sauce a little too salty.