Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Positive Mindset and a Delicious Recipe

I'm putting out the fall decorations. I don't know why I have so many. I have lots of Christmas decorations....that makes sense. Christmas decorations are ubiquitous. And then I have nothing else but a ton of fall decorations. I can't really figure out why I have decided that this one season needs to be celebrated with so many fake pumpkins, but....alas, that is what we have. So, I'm putting out the leaves and gourds and pumpkins and pumpkin spice candles. And, I am desperately trying to keep my mindset on the good parts of this season and not the impending doom I feel approaching (H1N1, I'm looking at you, and your stupid counterpart the Stomach Virus).

But Fall. Yes. Fall. I'm loving wearing jeans. And drinking hot drinks during the day. And turning off the air conditioner, but not turning on the heater. I also love turning on the oven, and cooking things. The other night we had one of the best meals I have ever made. Meg sent me the recipe.

Run, don't walk, to your store and buy these ingredients and make this immediately. You won't be sorry. The meat is perfectly tender. Emeril's Korean-Style Pork Lettuce Wraps.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (I used the refrigerated ginger paste from the produce section)
2 tablespoons Sriracha hot chili sauce (I could only find Thai style chili sauce and it was good)
4 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 1/2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1 head Boston, Bibb, or butter lettuce, leaves separated, washed, and patted dry

Directions
Wrap the pork tenderloin in several sheets of plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 40 minutes. (This is to make it easier to thinly slice, so make sure it doesn't freeze completely.)
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar, 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Whisk together until the sugar dissolves.

Take the pork out of the freezer and unwrap on a clean cutting board. Slice the pork into thin strips, about 1/4-inch thick, 1/4-inch wide, and 2 1/2 inches long. Place the pork strips in the soy marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (I think longer is better. I did about 5 hours, but next time am going to do it overnight).

In a small mixing bowl, combine the Sriracha hot chili sauce, the honey, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. Stir to combine. Set aside.

When the pork has marinated, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pork from the marinade and carefully place in the skillet. (Be careful that the drippings don't splatter out of the pan.) Cook the pork, stirring constantly with tongs or a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes, until the pork is cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame seeds.
To serve, spoon several tablespoons of rice into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style. Top with a few pork strips and drizzle with a few drops of the chili mixture. Roll up and eat!

5 comments:

Jen said...

Korean-style? Really? =) Sounds good!

Meg said...

Yea!!! So glad you liked them! Like I said though, I made it w/premarinated tenderloin and thus skipped wrapping it in plastic wrap and took a decent amount of time off the recipie.

Katie said...

Meg, I LOVED that marinade so much I'm scared to try a pre-marinated one. It was the fresh ginger and garlic and green onions. YUM. And it was so tender! Thanks for the recipe!

Plee-AH-blee-ah said...

Soooooooooo yummy! What did I ever do to deserve kids - all three - who can cook? Maybe married the right guy - a cooking role model!

lisa said...

10:30 pm. Im hungry.