Recipe: Curried Pork

Curried Pork (Gar Lay Gee Yuk) (Chinese)

½ lb pork
¼ C sliced onion
2 t cornstarch mixed with 2 t water
½ t salt
½ t monosodium glutamate
½ t sugar
Pinch five-flavored spice powder (optional)
Dash pepper
4 T curry powder
½ C chicken stock or water

Preparation: Slice pork and onions. Mix cornstarch solution and add salt, monosodium, sugar, five-flavored spice powder, and pepper. Set beside pan.

Cooking: Using a low flame, heat curry in a dry frying pan with onion, constantly stirring until the odor of curry becomes very pungent in the kitchen, approximately 3 minutes. Next add pork and stir for 3 minutes. Add stock, at the same time turning flame to high. When stock boils, stir for 5 minutes. Then add cornstarch mixture and cook for 3 minutes.

Serves 2

Curry is always pan fried in a dry frying pan, using a low flame. This is a special secret Chinese chefs use because they believe (and I agree) that it really brings out the true flavor of curry. The trick is to stir constantly to prevent the curry from burning.