Pork and Flowering Mustard Stir-Fry

On February 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., join author and cook Nancy Singleton Hachisu at a Good Earth/Great Chefs Series cooking demonstration, tasting and book signing of her cookbook, Japanese Farm Food, from which this recipe is taken. The free event takes place at The Chino Farm, 6123 Calzada Del Bosque, Rancho Santa Fe.

Pork and Flowering Mustard Stir-Fry

Serves 4

½ tablespoon organic rapeseed oil
½ pound thinly sliced pork belly, cut crosswise into 3-inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely slivered ginger
1 10 ½-ounce bunch flowering mustard or rapini, cut into 2-inch lengths
½ teaspoon sea salt

1. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Heat a wide frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the oil, quickly followed by pork belly slices and ginger. Sauté until the fat sizzles and there is minimal browning.
3. Place the flowering mustard in a mesh strainer with a handle and lower into the boiling water. Cook for about 30 seconds or until no longer raw. Keep the strainer at the top of the water surface in order to scoop the mustard greens out in one brisk pass.
4. Shake off the hot water and toss into the cooked pork belly. Toss a few minutes more over high heat and season with the salt. Cook about 30 seconds more.

Variations: Substitute soy sauce for the salt or chopped ginger for the slivered ginger.

From Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, September 2012
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