Dish of Pork & Gai Lan
(click to enlarge)

Pork & Broccoli (Gai Lan)


Burma
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 w/rice
***
1 hr
Prep		 From Burma, a simple dish of Pork and Greens very popular with the Shan people. With a little more water added, it can be a soup. See Comments.

1
7
3
1
3
-------
1-1/2
1
1/2
-------
2
#
oz
cl
T

---
T
c
t
---
T
Gai Lan (1)
Pork, lean (2)
Garlic
Lemongrass (3)  
Chili Dried (4)
-- Sauce
Tua Nao (5)
Water
Salt
--------------
Oil
Prep   -   (30 minutes)
  1. Slice PORK into strips about 1/8 inch thick, 1/2 inch wide and 1 inches long. Cut with the grain so the strips hold together well.
  2. Strip leaves and tender tops from GAI LAN. Cut leaves into fairly large pieces. Slice stems (including leaf stems) on a shallow diagonal starting at about 1/2 inch at the big end and increasing to about 1-1/2 inches at the thin end. Keep leaves and stems separate.
  3. Slice GARLIC thin.
  4. Peel tough outer leaves from Lemon Grass and cut off root end. Smash flat with your kitchen mallet, then slice very thin crosswise. Chop fine.
  5. Mix together all Sauce items.
Run   -   (15 minutes)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan heat Oil over moderate heat. Fry Garlic for a few seconds, it should not color.
  2. Stir in Lemon Grass and Dried Chilis for a few seconds, then stir in Pork. Fry stirring over high heat until pork loses all its raw color and any exuded liquid has evaporated.
  3. Stir in Gai Lan Stems and fry stirring for about 3 minutes, then stir in Gai Lan Leaves. Fry stirring until wilted and coated with oil.
  4. Stir in Sauce mix, cover and simmer until thick stems are crisp tender and still a bit crunchy.
  5. Serve hot with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice or Asian wheat noodles.
NOTES:

  1. Gai Lan:

      This green looks much like Italian Rapini, but in an odd reversal it's actually broccoli, while the very similar Rapini is turnip greens. Most other Asian "cabbages" are actually turnip greens. You can substitute Rapini, but it is less leafy. For details see our Gai Lan / Chinese Broccoli page.

  2. Pork:

      Weight is for boneless pork with all excess fat removed. Any cut will be fine.

  3. Lemongrass:

      These tough grass stems are now widely available in North American markets that serve a Southeast Asian community. I've even seen them in some Korean markets. For details see our Lemon Grass page.

  4. Chili, Dried Red:

      In Burma these would be dried Thai chilis. For a bit less heat use the common Japones. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  5. Tua Nao:

      This is a Burman fermented soybean paste. It's not readily available in North America, but you make it yourself (see our recipe Tua Nao & Disks). If you don't have it, use some Japanese Dark Miso, but half the amount.

  6. Comments:

      The pattern recipe called for just 4 ounces of Pork. I upped it to 7 to be more in line with Western tastes.

  7. Burma:

      Both Burma and Myanmar are correct and allowed. Both refer to the dominant Bamar tribe. Aung San Suu Kyi uses Burma.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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