This is a very simple gluten free Asian influenced cuisine that is impeccable when dished up over rice. I have created this gluten free succulent pork dish with trimmed skinless and boneless pork leg. You can substituent for pork shoulder or pork tenderloin if preferred.
The all so familiar Australian Pork television campaign of the slogan “Get some pork on your fork”. Lean pork is a superb source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Protein is important for muscle building and maintaining healthy body tissues. Pork is considered as another white meat as pork tenderloin has smaller amount of fat than a chicken breast, while pork fillets has fewer than half the fat content of beef fillets. Pork has high thiamine (vitamin B1), and an excellent source of riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), cobalamin (vitamin B12), and Niacin (vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid). Pork is also rich in minerals like iron, zinc, selenium and phosphorus.
Garlic is a member of the onion (Allium) family, including onion, chives, scallion, shallot and leek. Since ancient times, garlic has been widely used for its health and medicinal benefits. Garlic is a well-liked ingredient in all types of cooking because of its robust smell and delightful taste. Garlic is not only low in calories, but also prolific in pyridoxine (Vitamin B6), ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Manganese and Selenium. In Addition, it also has moderate amounts of potassium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, copper and thiamine (vitamin B1). Main health benefits of garlic are antibacterial and antifungal properties, help fight common viral conditions like the colds and flus, may defend against stomach cancer, and may help in decreasing bad cholesterol levels.
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg skinless and boneless pork leg trimmed and roughly cut into large portions
- 20 dried Chinese red dates
- Steamed rice to serve
For the Sauce:
- 8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and finely minced
- 6 tablespoons of gluten free light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of pale or medium dry sherry
- 3 spring onions thinly sliced into 1cm lengthwise
- 3 sprigs of coriander roughly cut into 1 to 2 cm lengthwise
For the Garnish:
- 2 long fresh red chilli deseeded and finely sliced
- 3 spring onions thinly sliced into 1cm lengthwise
- 3 sprigs of coriander including stems roughly cut into 1 to 2 cm lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon of ground white pepper
Instructions
For cooking the pork:
- Fill a pot with half full of water and bring to a boil. Submerge the pork into the boiling water and resume the boil and skim the surface. Add all the dried Chinese red dates. Once its boiling, decrease the heat to low, cover with lid and simmer for 1 hour or until pork is soft and tender. Turn off the heat and leave the pork in the pot to keep warm until ready to serve.
For the sauce:
- Heat up a frying pan with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and stir-fry the garlic on low heat until lightly golden.
- Add the spring onions and coriander and stir fry for 2 minutes. Then add the dry sherry, gluten free light soy sauce, sesame oil and the rest of the 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix well. Turn off the heat. Set aside.
For serving the pork:
- Remove the pork pieces from the pot and place on a chopping board, with 2 forks, pull and shred the meat into smaller pieces. Discard the dried Chinese red dates.
- Place the pulled pork and the sauce prepared into a large bowl. Toss and mix to combine well.
- Then serve on a plate and sprinkle some ground white pepper on the pulled pork and garnish with red chillies, spring onions and coriander.
- Serve together with steamed rice.
