Yield: 3 to 4

Woks of Life

Slices of pork tenderloin with black bean sauce is a tasty combination. The dish is also flexible as you can use the vegetables of your own choice.

Velvet pork:

• 12-16oz pork tenderloin
• 2tsp Shaoxing wine
• 2tsp oyster sauce
• 2tsp vegetable oil
• 1-2TBS cornstarch

Sauce:

• 1½cups beef or chicken stock
• 2TBS black bean and garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
• 1TBS oyster sauce
• 1tsp sugar
• 1tsp dark soy sauce
• 1tsp sesame oil
• ⅛tsp ground white pepper (or to taste)

Stir Fry:

• 2TBS vegetable oil
• 1onion, diced
• 1red bell pepper (cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1green bell pepper (cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1cup green beans (cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1TBS Shaoxing wine
• 1cup snow peas (trimmed)
• 2TBS cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 TBS water)

Velvet pork:

Then add the cornstarch, vegetable oil, oyster sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Mix well and marinate the pork for at least 30 minutes, or even overnight if you’d like to make this ahead.

Premix sauce:

In a liquid measuring cup, mix the stock, black bean garlic sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and white pepper, and set aside.

Stir fry:

Heat your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke lightly. Add 1 TBS of oil around the perimeter of the wok. Add the pork in 1 layer and sear the pork on both sides until browned (this should only take 2-3 minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the pork from the wok, and set aside. Do in two batches.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, and add the remaining 1 TBS of oil, onions, and bell peppers. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until the onions and peppers have very light sear on them.

Next, add the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok.

Stir in the sauce mixture. Bring to a simmer and add the pork (along with any juices) back to the wok. Stir, then add the snow peas.

Bring the contents of the wok to a simmer.

Stir the cornstarch and water until incorporated into a slurry, and gradually add the slurry to the sauce, stirring constantly until the sauce is thickened to your liking (if it’s too thick, add a splash of water or stock, if it’s too thin, add more slurry).

Cook until the snow peas are just crisp-tender.

Serve immediately with steamed rice!