From the Kitchen: Pork Chow Mein

This is ridiculously easy, super-cheap, stupid fast, and so good you won't have leftovers. Josh loves it, which is always a bonus. Just make sure you have everything prepared and within reach when you start cooking. You can't stop with stir-fry. If you need to, grab a helper to hand you things.

You will need:
2 pork chops, sliced into 1/4'' strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 T soy sauce, divided
2 T cornstarch
1/2 to 1 t. ground ginger
1 cup chicken broth (I use bullion and it turns out fine)
1 T vegetable oil (NOT Olive oil*)
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
Hot cooked rice

What you do:
1. Put your pork strips, garlic, and 2 Tablespoons of the soy sauce in a bowl. Cover it and put it in the fridge for 2 hours. This is a good time to chop everything up.
2. When it gets close to time to pull the meat out of the fridge, combine cornstarch, ginger, broth, and remaining soy sauce.
3. Start cooking the rice.
4. In a wok or large frying pan, coat the bottom and sides with vegetable oil. Turn on the heat. It needs to be pretty high. Yes, it will smell like you're burning things when stuff starts going in, and there will be smoke. Don't worry. It's ok. Just turn on the vent hood.
5. As soon as the oil in the pan starts smoking, dump in the pork mess. Stir like crazy until the meat is no longer pink. Remove it from the pan.
6. Throw the carrots and celery (if used) in the pan. Stir like crazy for 3-4 minutes.
7. Add the onions. Stir like crazy for 2-3 minutes.
8. Give the broth mess a good stir; the cornstarch will settle to the bottom if you don't and this isn't good when you try to pour it in. Pour it in along with the pork.
9. Stir like crazy until everything is coated and sauce begins to thicken. This will take 3-4 minutes.
10. Serve immediately over rice.

* Olive oil has a lower smoke-point than vegetable oil. This means that it smokes at a lower temperature, which isn't good. You need a really hot pan to make stir-fry work right. It's also important to have your pan hot when you add your first ingredient. It flash-cooks the food and seals in the flavor better.

-Anny