PORK AND ASPARAGUS WITH HOISIN SAUCE

Let’s face it: you can’t shoot everything with natural light. Since I bought my DSLR, I’ve shot everything in natural light. However, with a 9-5 full-time job, this means I must stay in the house on weekends to cook and blog. As you can imagine, this is pretty exhausting. It’s not just that I panic when I go out to dinner with friends or to SF on the weekends to see Jason because I have to give up at least six posts.

Lowel ego light finally arrived. I felt like I was a prisoner running after the sun. I made the low lights; Jason actually made them. He was going to buy me two sets of Lowel Ego Lights from Amazon, but I found this amazing DIY Lowel Lights article. Jason immediately agreed to make the lights after I sent him the link. He spent $40 on the materials needed to make the two lights. They would have cost more than $200 on Amazon!

These lights are amazing! It was a bit limiting to shoot only with natural light. Here’s a little secret: This post was done at 9 pm using the DIY Lowel lights.

What are you waiting on? If you are a food blogger, and you do not have these lights already, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DIY version. It is so much cheaper, and it does a great job of mimicking daylight.

Let’s discuss this easy and quick dish now that I have finished my essay on the towel.

All of us need to eat in 20 minutes. This dish was prepared in exactly 20 minutes, not including prep time. This dish is a simple saute with chopped pork tenderloin, asparagus (green beans also work well), and hoisin sauce. This is the easiest, tastiest weeknight dinner. Serve it over brown rice. These would make the best leftovers for the next day at work!

INGREDIENTS

• One tablespoon of sesame oil toasted
• Pork tenderloin 1 pound, with excess fat removed
• Trimmed and cut into 1-inch-sized pieces, one bunch of asparagus
• To taste, add Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
• Three cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup Mirin
• Optional: 1 tablespoon of sambal oelek
• Brown rice for serving
• Green onions thinly sliced for garnish
• For garnish, toast sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

Heat sesame oils in a medium-sized skillet on medium heat. Add the pork and asparagus to the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the pork is browned and the asparagus is tender-crisp. Season with salt and black pepper. Transfer onto a serving plate.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Stir in the hoisin Mirin, and cook for 3 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced. Stir gently to combine. Add the mixture of pork and asparagus. Stir in sambal oelek, if desired.

Serve immediately over brown rice and garnish with sesame seeds or green onions, if you wish.