Continuing in the “How to Stir-Fry Pork” section, tonight I made Sliced Pork and Cucumber.

As has been typical, the recipe was straightforward. The sauce was a simple mixture of white pepper, soy sauce, and water. The stir-fry consisted of a few aromatics and a fair amount of sliced cucumber. Optionally, the recipe calls for a teaspoon of chopped pickled chiles, which I had previously made for the Shredded Chicken with Pickled Chiles and Carrots recipe. I was happy to have an opportunity to use them again.

The flavor was dominated by white pepper. The texture of the pork was tender, with a bit of crispiness on the outside. The cucumber took on the flavor of the dish well, losing almost all of its "cucumbery-ness". The introduction to the recipe says that the cucumbers “retain their bright crunch”, which they did not for me, so I definitely cooked them too long.

Overall, I thought the dish was fine, but nothing to get excited about. My wife did not care for the “worminess” of the matchstick-cut pork, but surprisingly did not mind the cucumbers, which she usually avoids. She said that they didn't really taste like anything. My son ate a few pieces of pork, said that it tasted good, but was too spicy to eat more. My daughter agreed that it was spicy.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.