Stir-fried pork with asparagus
Tender marinated pork slices flash-fried with sweet, crisp asparagus — a short ingredient list, light seasoning and no seafood or nuts, so allergy-prone eaters can tuck in with confidence.
- 26 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Special, allergy-prone constitutions do best with fresh, simple food and a short ingredient list, and Liqiu's lingering humid heat makes itchy rashes more likely. Lean pork moistens dryness and nourishes without heating, and asparagus clears heat and generates fluids. Made without oyster sauce, seafood or nuts and lightly seasoned, it keeps potential triggers to a minimum.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 6 min- 1Slice the pork thinly against the grain and work in the soy sauce, 1 tsp cornflour, the sugar and 1 tbsp water. Leave for 15 minutes and stir in a little oil before cooking.
- 2Trim the woody ends of the asparagus, peel the tough lower stems and cut on the diagonal. Blanch in boiling water with a little salt and oil for 1 minute, then drain.
- 3Heat the oil and fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant. Stir-fry the pork over a high heat until almost cooked, then add the asparagus and toss for 1 minute.
- 4Season with salt, thicken lightly with the remaining cornflour mixed with a little water and serve with the rice.
Cautions
- Asparagus is cooling, so add more ginger if you get loose stools; go easy on asparagus during a gout attack.
Chef's tips
- Working a little water into the pork before marinating keeps it extra tender; peeling the tough lower stems makes the whole spear crisp.
The TCM view
Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin, moistening dryness and building blood — the Suixiju Yinshipu says it 'replenishes kidney fluids, fills the stomach's juices, nourishes liver yin and moistens the skin'. Asparagus is sweet and cold, clearing heat, generating fluids and promoting urination; ginger is pungent and slightly warm, settling the stomach and tempering the asparagus's coolness. Simple and gentle, it helps allergy-prone people build resilience.
