Japanese Home Cooking: Pork and Asparagus with Spicy and Sour Sauce

(Epoch Times Japan)

Rice vinegar is vinegar in its mildest form. The idea with this spicy sauce is for the vinegar to temper the richness of the pork and sesame oil.

Serves four people

Ingredients:
6-8 asparagus stalks
200g pork fillet, with a little fat, sliced as thin as you can
1 tablespoon of groundnut oil
Salt and pepper

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
½ tablespoon of sugar
½ tablespoon of sesame oil
Chilli pepper to taste

How to cook:
1. Remove the hard stalk of asparagus, and cut into 3-4cm lengths. Blanch quickly in boiling water for 1½-2 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan until hot and fry the pork in the groundnut oil. Add salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the pork and asparagus to a warm serving dish
4. Heat the soy sauce in a pan with the sugar, until just warm and the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and add remaining sauce ingredients.
5. Pour the sauce over the pork and asparagus and gently mix.