Oriental Pork Casserole with Stir-fried Green Vegetables

This is quite an exotic recipe, a wonderful combination of flavours that develop and permeate the pork as it cooks very slowly. The surprising thing is the casserole takes only 6 minutes or so to prepare from start to finish. Serve it with Thai fragrant rice. If you like, spinach leaves can be used instead of pak choi.

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This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book Two

Method

All you need to do is arrange the pork in a single layer in the base of a lidded flameproof casserole with a capacity of 4 pints (2.25 litres), then simply mix all the other ingredients (except the cinnamon and star anise) together, give them a good whisk and pour over the pork. Now tuck in the cinnamon sticks and star anise, place the casserole on the hob and bring everything up to a very gentle simmer. Put the lid on and simmer over the gentlest possible heat for 45 minutes. At that point turn the pieces of pork over, replace the lid and simmer for 45 minutes more.

For the stir-fry, first prepare the vegetables: the cauliflower should be separated out and cut into tiny florets, and the same with the broccoli. Wash and trim the leeks, then halve and thinly slice them, while the spring onions should be sliced into matchsticks, as should the ginger. Finally, cut each head of pak choi into 6 wedges through the root. When you're ready to cook, heat the oil over a high heat in a wok. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 10 seconds, then add the cauliflower and broccoli and stir-fry for 1 minute. Next add the leeks and stir-fry for another minute.

Add the spring onions and pak choi, toss everything together, then add the liquid, plus 3 fl oz (75 ml) water, and sugar. Reduce the heat to medium, put a lid on and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve the pork and stir-fried greens with the spring onions and chilli sprinkled over each portion, remembering to remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise first.