Mongolian Pork

I desperately wanted Chinese food yesterday. I love the stuff soooo much but as many of my readers already know the rest of the family hates it. What really drives me crazy is that whenever I make Asian inspired dishes they inhale it and rave about how wonderful it is. How does that work? I mean, really? I try not to think about it too hard because I don't want my brain to explode. I'm pretty sure it will. 

So back to the food. I really wanted Chinese but I'd gotten a pork roast out for dinner. The closer it got to dinner the more I didn't want to eat a roast. Mongolian beef sounded soooo much better. However I didn't thaw out beef. You see the conundrum, right? If shrimp dishes can be made with chicken then why can't beef dishes be made with pork? Can I get an amen? Thus Mongolian pork was born.

The husband had no idea he was eating pork. He thought he was eating Mongolian beef. How awesome is that? 4ft devoured it and the rice, making snorting little piggy sounds and saying how delicious it was (I may or may not be making up the little piggy sounds). Bear tried a bite and didn't spit it out, so that's a win but Grumpers couldn't even bother to come to the table cuz I'd mistakenly given him a snack earlier and he was "too busy" to eat dinner. His loss. More for me. (and this is where we all laugh hysterically because I seriously can eat only about 2 oz of meat at any given time still.)


Mongolian Pork

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs pork roast; trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
1 TBS cornstarch
1/2 cup + 2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS Hoisin sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 TBS olive oil
1 cup sliced onions
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS fresh ginger paste 
2 TBS rice vinegar
2 TBS beef broth
1 TBS chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
1.) In a small bowl, combine salt, garlic powder, cornstarch, and pepper. Set aside.
2.) In another small bowl, combine 2 TBS soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside.
3.) Put pork in a gallon Ziplock bag, sprinkle salt mix over meat, seal bag and shake it up -- coating all the meat in the spice mixture.
4.) Pour soy sauce mixture over pork, seal bag, and shake it up. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
5.) In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, rice vinegar, beef broth, chili garlic sauce, and brown sugar. Stir well -- making sure sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
6.) Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When pan is hot, add olive oil and onions. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
7.) Add minced garlic and ginger paste. Saute for another minute.
8.) Pour in the pork mixture into the pan. Brown pork for about 5 minutes.
9.) Pour soy sauce mixture over pork. Bring the sauce up to a boil and cook for another 10 minutes. Sauce will start to reduce.
10.) Remove from heat and let stand for a couple minutes. Sauce will thicken more. Serve over rice.

Nutritional Info per Serving (makes 6 servings)
Calories: 246
Protein: 25
Fat: 10
Carbs: 13
Sugar: 10