Celery, dried lily flower & pork stir-fry with rice
Green celery, golden dried lily flowers and orange carrot stir-fried with pork and a hint of tangerine peel — a cheerful, colourful lunchbox.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi Stagnation brings low moods and a tight, bloated chest, and at Awakening of Insects the liver most needs to stretch out. Celery calms the liver, dried lily flowers — the 'forget-your-worries' flower — ease the mood, and tangerine peel moves qi. Colourful and fragrant; fry it the night before for work.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Soak the dried lily flowers in warm water for 20 minutes, rinse two or three times, snip off the hard ends and tie each in a knot. Soak the tangerine peel, scrape off the pith and shred.
- 2Marinate the pork with 1 tsp of the soy sauce, the cornflour and a little oil for 10 minutes. String the celery and slice it thinly on the diagonal.
- 3Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry the pork until it changes colour, then set aside.
- 4Fry the tangerine peel until fragrant, add the celery, carrot and lily flowers and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Return the pork, add the rest of the soy sauce, toss and serve with rice.
Cautions
- Always use dried lily flowers — fresh ones contain colchicine and can cause poisoning if not handled properly.
Chef's tips
- For a lunchbox, take the celery off the heat while still crisp; it reheats in 2 minutes without going limp.
The TCM view
Celery is sweet, bitter and cool, calming the liver and clearing heat; dried lily flowers are sweet and cool, clearing damp-heat and easing a tight chest; aged tangerine peel is pungent, bitter and warm and moves qi; lean pork is sweet, salty and neutral; carrot is sweet and neutral and supports digestion. Cool and warm together soothe the liver without upsetting digestion.
