Pork Fried Rice

6 June 2022: I made fried rice for a large party (about 50-55 people).
 
I had cooked pork that I defrosted and I wanted to marinade it to add some extra flavor. I looked up Char Siu recipes (Chinese BBQ pork). I didn’t have everything on hand, so I just created my own marinade with what I had on hand. No, it’s nothing like a Char Sui marinade but it came out great. 

Fried Rice
 
1/2 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups day old cooked rice
12 oz. frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans) defrosted and drained of any liquid
5 eggs, scrambled
Cooked pork, diced
*Sesame oil
*Soy Sauce
*Teriyaki sauce
Scallions
 
*Marinade
 
A little sugar
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Carolina Q’ Eastern NC Vinegar Sauce
Some minced garlic
White wine
Salt and pepper

*No measurements – I just added a little at a time until I was satisfied with the flavors.

 
A few hours before making the fried rice, combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chopped pork. Stir to combine and place in the refrigerator. Note that I just added some of each marinade ingredient in until I was happy with the flavor of the marinade.

In a large sauté pan, heat a little oil and cook the eggs, breaking them into small pieces as you go. Transfer the eggs to a plate and set aside.

 
Cook the onions and garlic in the pan until translucent.  Add the mixed vegetable and pork. Cook until warmed through.
 
In a large pot over medium high heat, add a little oil to coat the bottom and add the rice. Add the vegetable and pork mixture.  Add some soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and sesame oil. Stir to combine and continue sautéing the rice, stirring every 15-20 seconds or so for a few minutes, or until the rice and vegetable start to brown slightly. 
 
Add the scrambled eggs and green onions and stir to combine.  Remove from heat and serve. Since the party was at a friends house, I placed the rice in my instant pot and placed it on "Keep Warm". 
 
With the exception of about 1/2 cup of rice, it all got eaten.

20 August 2024

I made this again last night for a smaller group dinner. 

Using the recipe above, I also added some shrimp.

I purchased a pork tenderloin, which I made a marinade (again, no measurements, just by taste) and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.  

While I baked the pork (360 degrees, baked uncovered until the inside of the pork hit 140 degrees, about 35 minutes), I placed about a dozen large shrimp in the marinade for a few hours; then cooked on medium high heat with some olive oil.  Once cooled down enough to handle, I diced the shrimp.

Instant Pot Pork Chops

23 January 2022

I had a couple of pork chops on hand, so I wanted to make them in the instant pot with a red sauce.

Most recipes I found called for thick chops. Mine were 1/2 inch thick, so I had to adjust the time for cooking. I checked on a couple of facebook pages and got some suggestions. 

Here’s my recipe:  

 

2 1/2” bone in pork chops

Olive oil for the bottom of the pot

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/3rd cup chopped onions (next time I’ll keep them in larger pieces)

A couple of small red peppers, thick slice

Dash of Italian seasoning

Dash of onion powder

Smoked Paprika, just a little. Next time I’ll add more.

1 can of diced tomatoes and its juices

About 4 T. Rao’s tomato sauce

About 1/2 cup of white wine

Fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

10-12 Italian green olives

1 small can of mushrooms, drained (didn’t have fresh on hand)

Salt and Pepper

 

Season the pork chops with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and onion powder.

 

With the Sauté setting, add some olive oil and added the two chops to brown. Add the garlic, onions, peppers and salt/pepper (I placed them around the pork chops.  Turn the pork chops to the other side to brown; about 3-4 minutes on each side.

 

Turn off the IP.  Top the pork chops with the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, parsley, olives and mushrooms.

 

Pressure cook for 5 minutes followed by a Natural Release. 

The Natural Release took about 18 minutes. Next time I won’t let the natural release go beyond 13-14 minutes. The chops came out not quite tender, but not tough at all. Or I’ll buy thicker chops.

 

I had some leftover grits to serve as a side.

 

Instant Pot Beef Chili

Instant Pot Beef Chili

This is one of my favorite recipes from the Instant Pot Miracle Cookbook. I sometimes use a combination of beef and pork, or just pork.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Function: Sauté (Normal); Pressure/Manual (high)

Closed Pot time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Release: Natural

Serves 8

1.5 Lbs ground beef

1 C Chopped onion

4 Cloves garlic, minced

1 15-oz Can tomato sauce

2 15 to 16-oz Cans kidney beans, drained

1 C Beef broth [or chicken broth – low salt/low fat]

2 14.5 oz Cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 T Chili powder

1/2 t. Black pepper

1 4.5-oz Can diced green chilies, undrained (optional)

Hot sauce (optional)

Shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and/or sliced green onions

PREP

Select Sauté on the Instant Pot and adjust to Normal. Cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic for about 10 minutes or until the meat is browned and onion tender.

Press Cancel. Add tomato sauce, beans, broth tomatoes, chili powder, black pepper, and green chilies.

Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure-release valve.

COOK

Select Manual and cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.  When cooking is complete, use a natural release to depressurize.

SERVE

Serve chili with hot sauce, cheese, sour cream, and/or green onions.

My notes: I originally mis-read the recipe and only used one can of beans (black beans) and one can of diced tomatoes. It was on the soupy side but very flavorful and excellent. One time I made it with 2 lbs of ground meat, so I doubled the diced tomatoes and beans. This makes a lot for two people, so I freeze in smaller containers. 

Pork and Black Bean Stew

For a rotation group dinner last night (18 May 20130, I made a pork and black bean stew (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pork-and-black-bean-stew/) for our Brazil food theme:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 (12 ounce) pork tenderloin, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 (19 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 chorizo sausages, cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat, stir in garlic and onion, and cook a few minutes until the onion softens and turns translucent. Remove the onion, and place into a saucepan. Pour the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil into the skillet, and place over medium-high heat. Add cubed pork, and cook until well browned.

Meanwhile, pour 3/4 of the black beans along with 1/4 cup water into the bowl of a blender, and pulse until finely chopped, but not quite smooth. Pour whole beans and bean puree into saucepan along with pork cubes, chicken stock, chorizo, and bay leaves.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

My adjustments:

I skipped the 1/4 cup of water and added a splash of white wine

I used one can of chicken stock.

After the pork was cooked (used about 20 oz), I removed it and browned the chorizo (5 links) for a few minutes.

After bringing all ingredients to a high heat, I placed everything into a crockpot and cooked on high for 2 hours and then low for 2 hours.

My comments:

This came out well and everyone enjoyed it, but it’s definitely not a colorful dish. If I make this again, I'll add some red bell peppers to brighten it up. I was glad I added the white wine, as it made it more flavorful. 

~~~~~~

Brazilian black beans with pork

My friend Debbi, who hosted this dinner, also made this traditional Brazillian dish.

(Ingredients and directions provided; for full information see: http://www.cookbrasil.com/feijoada.htm)

Ingredients

1 lb of varied pork sausages (prefer smoked sausages)

1 lb of pork tenderloin

some slices of bacon

1 can of black beans (15.5Oz)

2 tbs vegetable oil

salt, garlic, chopped onions and bay leaves (bay leaves give a special taste to feijoada)

Directions

Add black beans to a medium-sized pot with 2 tbs oil, salt, garlic, chopped onions and about 6 bay leaves.

Cook for about 15 minutes in med heat and set aside.

In a separated panfry, cook cubes of pork tenderloin and slices of bacon with salt, garlic.

Add all the sausages sliced and stir medium-heat until dry all the water.

Add the cooked meat to the pan with the black beans and your feijoada is ready!

Cook your feijoada more 10 minutes to meat soak in the black beans. You can add some pepper sauce to your feijoada at this point.

Hint: to make the feijoada creamy, liquefy 1/2 cup of black beans in the blender and add to the feijoada

Serves 6

Debbi’s notes: I started by cooking the onions and garlic in the oil and once they were soft, added the beans. The meat portion I used about 4-5 slices of bacon and 1 lb. of Hillshire Smoked sausage and then the pork tenderloin. Some of the ingredients don't have a quantity, I just used my judgement on the amount.  I didn't add any hot sauce to this recipe.

 

Slow Cooker Carnitas

23 April 2012: Yesterday I made a huge batch of pork carnitas. This is one of my favorite foods. I made it for a party. This is from All Recipes. My notes are below of what I did or did not do.

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken broth

Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.

Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

What I did or did not do:

I tripled the rub and added a teaspoon of paprika. I didn’t use bay leaves or the cinnamon.

I marinated the pork overnight.

I cooked two 5.5 (approx.) pork shoulders (Costco doesn’t package pork shoulders individually), each in its own pan and covered tightly with tinfoil; and cooked for 5 ½ hours at 300 degrees. I could have taken it out at the 5 hour mark. Cook until 170 degrees inside temperature.

I added towards the end, a large onion, sliced thin. Next time I will cook separately in a pan so that the onions don’t cook all the way down (add after shredding the pork and toss to combine). I didn’t really taste the onions when eating.

I added the chicken broth after shredding the pork (remove all fat), as there wasn’t enough juices in the pan (which I drained the fat first).

I served with corn tortillas (healthier than plain white soft tortillas - warm up first or else they’ll fall apart) and fresh-made salsa.

This recipe could use a little kick, therefore, next time I’ll serve with hot fresh-made salsa or will add some hot sauce to the shredded pork.

Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches

4/12/2010: This is a recipe I found on the foodnetwork (a Tyler Florence recipe), which I adapted. I made this for lunch for 11 people yesterday.

What I did or didn’t do:

- I didn’t marinate the pork at all and found it unnecessary.
- I placed the pork in the oven (covered tightly with tin foil) just as I turned it on.
- Roasted for 5 hours 45 minutes (came out perfect!)
- Removed the excess fat before shredding with two forks.
- Used store bought BBQ sauce and docker-ed it up with a spicy marinade (Sweet Baby Ryan's BBQ sauce and Stubb's pork marinade
- Cooked the day before
- Added to a crock pot the morning of the luncheon and heated on low for 2 hours. Added some of the pork liquid from the pan (previously placed in a pot in the refrigerator, skimmed the fat off the top).
- I added the BBQ sauce just enough to coat the meat and had extra sauce on the side for people to add to their taste.
- Served with my favorite Claussen Kosher dill pickle spears.
- 8 pounds serves 14-15 people.


Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Serves 12

Dry Rub:
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons coarse salt (I used 2 T.)
I added: 1 t. onion powder (I actually had dried onions and placed in a food processor to mince), 1 T. thyme, 1 t. cayenne pepper

1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt (I used 8 pounds shoulder)

Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup yellow or brown mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 hamburger buns (I used Martin's potato buns)
1 recipe Spicy Slaw (didn’t make)
Pickle spears

Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes.

While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other.



Put the shredded pork in a bowl.



Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom 1/2 of the hamburger bun, and top with the spicy slaw. Serve with pickle spears and the remaining sauce on the side.

8/2/10: I made this again, but used my crock pot.