Quick Char Sui Pork Stir Fry

We felt bad bringing our Char Sui Pork to Romania, so we took the leftovers and turned them into a much more traditional stir fry. This kind of quick lunch is really common at Leftover Grub Towers. Often on a Monday, we cook about 3 cups of rice, and stick it in a bag in the fridge. When we need a bite during the week, we pull out some of it; and then pile whatever leftovers and unused veg we've got into the stir fry. Here we used the leftover Char Sui pork and some of the unused asparagus.

Fair warning: This stir fry is riddled with shortcuts. It makes a tasty lunch, but you won't want to serve it to your foodie friends just back from Beijing.

Quick Pork Stir Fry

Slurry
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ cup chicken stock (or water)
1 tbsp Chinese marinade (or Char sui)
½ tsp rice wine vinegar

Combine the ingredients, then taste and adjust to get the flavor you want. Don't get too crazy mixing ingredients. A few will do and water is your friend.

Stir fry
The slurry
½ cup leftover char sui pork
4 asparagus cut in bite sized pieces
2 clove garlic sliced
½ tsp chopped ginger
1 large onion sliced
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with equal amount of water.

1. In a hot frying pan stir fry the onions and asparagus for about 2-4 minutes, until asparagus is getting cooked.
2. Add ginger and garlic, stir for 30 seconds
3. Add meat, toss
4. Add slurry, wait until it comes to a boil
5. Taste, if it's too strong, add water or stock. If it's too weak, reduce slightly.
6. Turn heat down, add the cornstarch mixture a spoonful at a time. As it reaches boiling temp, it will thicken. Add enough to get the desired texture.
7. Remove from heat.

This recipe involves leftovers from Char Sui Pork Polenta.

Char-Sui Pork Polenta

Even if you don't get polenta, this recipe should turn your mind around. The concept comes from Romania and Moldova, where "mamaliga," a thick polenta, is the national bread. It's served, in flush times, with a strongly-flavored meat or fish, some sour cream and grated sheep's cheese. The idea is to take a bite sized piece of polenta (in your hands), dip it in sour cream, dip it in cheese, and then use it to grab a piece of meat. Try it, it's yummy.

The traditional meat for this is an artery-clogging piece of pork or chicken stewed in fat. This has strong points in its favor. But we hope to reach 50. So, we found some inexpensive pork tenderloin and subjected it to a Chinese marinade. The side of asparagus offers a contrast to the richness of the rest of the dish. When we're being lazy, which is often, we substitute pickles or pickled tomatoes for the asparagus.

Polenta
(try to cook it this way if you have the time, otherwise cut the cooking time to 30 minutes)

1 cup coarse ground cornmeal (you can use regular cornmeal, and we often do)
Salt
Butter

1. Bring four cups of water to a boil.
2. Whisk the cornmeal in, pouring it in a thin stream from your fist.
3. Bring back to a boil and turn heat as low as it will go.
4. Cook slowly for about three hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so to ensure that it doesn't burn. Reincorporate any crispy bits on the side.
5. Add water (boiling if possible) as necessary.
6. When polenta turns a pale shade of white, add salt and butter to taste.
7. Make sure it's reasonably thick.
8. Pour into a small bowl, and allow to sit while you cook the pork and asparagus.
9. Reverse the bowl on to a plate to make a cake.

Asparagus

20 sprigs (or so) asparagus
Salt
Sherry vinegar

1. Heat oven to 400.
2. Place asparagus in a roasting pan and lightly toss with oil.
3. Roast for about 5-7 minutes or until cooked through and lightly browned.
4. Remove and sprinkle with salt and vinegar.
5. Allow to sit until ready

Pork and Serving Instructions

1 pork tenderloin
Char Sui sauce (a popular Chinese marinade)
Cooked Polenta cake
Asparagus
Sour Cream
Pecorino cheese (or something like that, parm is ok, so is Kasseri, if you feel you must go native)
Water
Sriracha sauce

1. Mix Char Sui and water to form a marinade. Add Sriracha to taste.
2. Place tenderloin and marinade in a ziplock bag.
3. Allow to sit for 2-3 hours minimum.
4. Remove and dry.
5. Cut thin disks of pork.
6. Heat a grill or grill pan as hot as it will go.
7. Brush disks with oil, then grill for about 2-3 minutes per side, more if pork scares you
8. Allow to rest while you assemble the plates.
9. Cut polenta cake in wedges. Put wedge or two on each plate. Add a dollop of sour cream, a mound of grated cheese, and asparagus.
10. Arrange the pork over the polenta in an artsy, nonfunctional way (see image), so that your guests must rearrange their food before eating.
11. Enjoy (see intro for eating instructions.

Leftover Pork Goulash, Take 2: Pork Lasagna

That one measly pork shoulder turns out to be the gift that keeps on giving. Combining it with some leftover lasagna noodles we had lying around proved a pretty good use. Of course, we didn't have tomato sauce or ricotta lying around, so we had to improvise a bit.

Pork Lasagna

This is enough to make a mini-plate (about 9 inches by 4 inches). It would serve 2 or 3 light eaters, or ½ a heavy eater.

1 cup shredded leftover pork shoulder
½ cup of the accompanying sauce
3 tbsp cream cheese
3 tbsp goat cheese
¼ cup buttermilk
1 tbsp chopped parsley
6 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 sheets lasagna
parmigiano reggiano

1. Cook the lasagna sheets according to package directions. Remove when they are still undercooked in the center, and rinse in cold water. Pat dry between towels and set aside.

2. Chop shredded pork finely and combine with sauce. Heat quickly in the microwave.

3. Warm the cream cheese and goat cheese briefly (10 seconds) in the microwave. Add garlic, parsley, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and many grindings of black pepper, and whisk vigorously. Add more buttermilk and/or lemon juice to taste, and to make the consistency of the mixture slightly thicker than heavy cream.

4. Spritz the baking pan lightly with cooking spray. Spread a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on the bottom. Place two pieces of lasagna on this, cutting them so they fit snugly and do not overlap. Spread one third of the pork mixture on the lasagna, top this with one third of the cheese sauce, and two more pieces of lasagna. Top this layer of lasagna with another third of the pork and cheese sauce, and put the remaining two pieces of lasagna on top. Finish with the last of the pork covered by the last of the cheese. Sprinkle freshly-grated parmigiano reggiano on top of this last layer of cheese sauce. Note: as with all lasagnas, it can be assembled to this point and refrigerated for a day or two, or frozen for several months.

5. If the lasagna has been in the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature before baking at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the top is bubbling and golden. Let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Leftover Pork Goulash: Pasta with Pork Ragu

Occasionally we see a recipe on a cooking show that makes us drop everything, head straight to the supermarket, buy all the ingredients, and get to work. This recipe for goulash made with pork shoulder and bell peppers from Jamie Oliver was a good example. It's a pork pot roast that creates a delicious sweet sauce, and lots of it.

We made this easy one-skillet pasta from the leftovers.

Pasta with Leftover Pork Ragu

1 cup shredded leftover pork shoulder
½ cup of the sauce it cooked in (reduced bell peppers, paprika, caraway seeds, etc.)
½ lb brown rotini pasta
3 tbsp goat cheese, plus extra for garnish
2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
parmigiano reggiano

1. Cook and drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water.

2. In a large skillet heat the pork and its sauce together until warm. Add the goat cheese and about half the cooking water, and stir until the goat cheese has melted. Add the thyme and parsley.

3. Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and combine. Keep the heat at medium-low, and add more cooking water as necessary to coat the pasta with the sauce. Season with black pepper and kosher salt, if needed.

4. Top pasta with extra goat cheese and grated parmigiano.