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Student Suppers: 15 Minute Five Spice Pork with Pak Choi & Jasmine Rice
Last autumn I got the Itsu 20-minute Suppers book out of the library, and then quickly ordered my own copy just so I could have the recipe for what quickly became our favourite 15 minute meal close at hand. In the book, this super easy, super addictive pork in five spice pork is served with a quick veggie stir fry. I think it goes perfectly with simply blanched and salted baby pak choi (our favourite Chinese vegetable!)
Not only is this dish super quick, but it is also quite healthy, and rather cheap to make too. In my mind you can’t go wrong with jasmine rice, but whatever Asian sides you want will go perfectly. As long as you have some pork in the freezer (which you can defrost in the fridge while you’re at work) and a couple of basic Asian sauces and condiments in the cupboard, you’re set. It is also easily halved or doubled.
When I worked on re-designing this blog I spent a lot of time working on what sort of content I wanted to produce, and the main focus I kept on settling on is that I wanted the bulk of my recipes to be easy, weeknight dishes to help sort our everyones dinner ruts. This dish is perfect is it is something I actually make a lot (rather than the sort of dish I spend ages working on, and then move on without really going back to!)
This 15 minute, saucy five spice pork dish served over jasmine rice is a quick weeknight favourite in our house. If you’re looking to amp up the flavours even more, serve it with my Sesame Pak Choi.
Ingredients
Scale
150g (5 oz) Jasmine Rice
4 Baby Pak Choi
1/2 tbsp Light Cooking Oil
200g Pork Fillet, cut into 1/2 cm slices
1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing Rice Wine
1 tbsp Japanese Rice Vinegar
Sea Salt
Instructions
Cook the jasmine rice for 15 minutes in a pan of boiling water.
Boil the kettle again, and separate the pak choi into pieces. In a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over the pak choi and set aside.
Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok over a high heat. Toss the pork slices together with the five spice and sear the meat until it is brown.
Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine and rice vinegar to the pork and allow it to bubble into a thick sauce.
Drain the pak choi well and toss with a good pinch of salt. Serve alongside the pork and the sauce, spooned over the jasmine rice.
Notes
If you live near a Chinatown or Asian supermarket, you can usually buy a whole sack of baby pak choi for the same price as a supermarket pack of four.
The type of soy sauce you use will really impact the saltiness of the dish. I’ve happily made this with a bottle of standard Japanese soy no problem, but it has come out a little on the salty side (too salty for me put perfect for the people around the table to typically re-salt their food before eating) using Chinese dark soy sauce – I find light soy is the much better Chinese option here.
I'm a food writer, professional recipe developer and cookbook author living in the English Countryside. I love creating easy, accessable recipes filled with vibrant world flavours that are manageable on busy weeknights. Simple and delicious dinners, from my kitchen to yours!
One Pan Pescatarian: 100 Delicious Dinners – Veggie, Vegan, Fish
My second cookbook contains 100 delicious dinner recipes, all of which are either vegetarian, vegan or which celebrate fish and seafood - all cooked in either one pot or one pan.*
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