Juicy pork stir-fried with lime and ginger

For some reason, I haven’t made anything Oriental in quite a while. This dish was well worth the wait, though! It’s based on a recipe my mother used to cook – it was from a book by Ken Hom, I think. I tried to remember as much as I could, and filled in the gaps where necessary. I mainly made this tonight to use the lime leaves I bought from an Oriental supermarket I passed a few weeks ago – they are essential! They’re also very cheap and can be kept in the freezer, so I would recommend acquiring some.

This is a very simple stir-fry. The only thing that takes time is chopping the beans and pepper, but even that is very quick. It tastes wonderfully tangy due to the ginger and lime, and the sauce is slightly thick and goes perfectly with sticky rice. It’s also nice and colourful, which is the mark of a healthy, balanced meal (or at least that’s what my father always used to say!).

Serves 3 (I was by myself tonight, but there was enough left over for 2 more portions!)

For the marinated pork:

• 500g pork, cut in thin strips
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine

For the stir-fry:

• 250g green beans, ends trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 inches ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 5 fresh or frozen lime leaves, cut in half
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 5 tbsp rice wine
• 200ml chicken stock
• Pinch of chili powder
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cornflour, soy sauce and rice wine to form a paste. Mix with the pork pieces and leave to marinate for 1 hour (less is fine, but more is better!).

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep-bottomed pan and fry the pork pieces on high heat until they are around 80% cooked. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, heat the sesame oil and fry the ginger on medium-high heat for 1 minutes before adding the beans and red pepper (if you like to keep your pepper crunchy, add it a little later). Fry for 3-4 minutes and then add the lime leaves. Fry for 1-2 minutes and then add the chili powder along with all the liquids – fish sauce, rice wine, chicken stock, lime juice and soy sauce. Stir everything nicely and then add the pork pieces back in. Leave to bubble for around 5 minutes or until the pork is fully cooked (the thinner the strips, the less time this will need).

Serve with sticky rice!