Thai Pork Bowls
[tweetthis]Thai Pork Bowls made a great quick weeknight dinner sure to please the whole family. #recipe #foodblog[/tweetthis]
Today I’m sharing my Thai Pork Bowl recipe with you. This recipe is very easy to prepare and the flavors pack a big punch.
Sometimes I have to do a lot of recipe testing before I get the measurement of ingredients just right and that’s ok. This recipe was one of those that I made literally one time and got it right on the first try. Although rare, I love it when that happens! We’d had some extra pork loin that I’d defrosted and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it.
We have two young adults in the house. If you have young adults in the house, you know that there are lots of last minute plans. I try to keep track of everyone’s schedules so that I know how much meat to defrost for dinner, but that doesn’t always work out. You have to be very flexible when you have young people living at home! Having unexpected leftover meat has forced me to get creative and that’s not a bad thing at all.
There I was, staring at this pork in the refrigerator, trying to figure out what to do with it and I had a brilliant idea! A light bulb when off and Thai Pork Bowls were born. I’d had a spicy chicken bowl at Bonefish Grill a couple of years ago and although I couldn’t remember the exact contents, I remembered the general flavor profile. As I sat at the kitchen table, I made a mental list of ingredients and after pondering them, I had a list ready for my trip to the store. Pork was obviously the main ingredient and I knew I wanted to add fresh veggies and brown rice. Thai food isn’t something I normally make, so the sauce coming together so easily was just a lucky guess on my part. Honestly, I expected to take 2-3 turns at the sauce before getting it right.
This is how a lot of my recipes come together. Food bloggers spend more time than the average person thinking about food. We stare at menus in restaurants. We read food magazines and cookbooks as if they were novels. When we get together, we discuss spices and flavor profiles and SEO. Nothing but excitement when food bloggers get together! Lucky for our readers, all of this obsession with food results in fantastic recipes.
Confession time – I cleaned out the photos on my cell phone this morning. The majority of the 365 images I deleted were of food! Social Media has made my photo library very boring. Back when I used a camera with film, I never shot photos of food. Now that I’m blogging, taking pictures of food is a daily occurrence. There also might have been a ridiculous number of photos of my dog but you can’t prove it.
My family was very happy with this dish. Thai Pork Bowls are very healthy, don’t require a lot of ingredients and make wonderful leftovers. Winning!
When making this recipe at home, you can turn up the heat if you like things really spicy, or keep the heat turned down if you’re more sensitive to spicy foods. The kids would enjoy these bowls as well as the adults. The recipe contains meat, vegetables and brown rice so you get your protein, nutrients and fiber in. Add a glass of milk for dairy and the meal is 100% balanced.
I always buy meat in bulk at Costco and I can find pork loin at a very reasonable price, so I always have pork in the freezer. Pork is lean and low in saturated fat. If you prefer chicken or steak, you can easily swap out one of those proteins for the pork. Costco is a great place to buy meat at a reasonable price. Just divide and store in Ziplock freezer bags. Our deep freezer in the garage is always filled with pork, chicken, steak, sausage and lean ground beef.
For the veggies, all you need is fresh carrots, edamame (you can find edamame in the frozen section of your super market), fresh cilantro and green onions.
Fresh veggies are so colorful, aren’t they? We not only eat with our mouths, but we also eat with our eyes. These bowls can also be made for vegetarians by omitting the meat and substituting squash, zucchini and broccoli. Scour your farmer’s market for whatever is in season and substitute those vegetables. Tofu can also be added for vegetarians for extra protein.
The sauce contains just 3 ingredients: Soy Sauce (I like using the low sodium), chili sauce and green onions. Chili sauce can certainly be made from scratch, but the prepared is great for a quick weeknight meal.
Here are some links to recipes for sweet chili sauce if you prefer homemade:
A complete list of ingredients and instructions for these Thai Pork Bowls are in the printable recipe card below. Please come back and leave me a comment after you give this recipe a try and snap a photo and tag #ketchumkitchen on Social Media. I’d love to hear if you make the recipe as is, or adapted it as your own.
It’s been a real focus in 2017 for me to add one recipe per week to the blog here for you. Being a busy working mom makes it tough sometimes blog weekly, but this is my passion and I truly love it. I hope you’ll subscribe to be notified in your mailbox whenever a new recipe is added and be sure to follow me on Social Media for lots of fun content. Tell a friend if you like what you see!
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Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds pork loin, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 cup edamame
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Roasted peanuts for garnish
- 2 cups brown rice
- Sauce
- 1/2 cup chili sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Cook the brown rice according to package instructions
- In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil on medium-high heat.
- While the olive oil is heating up, toss the pork loin with the corn starch until well coated. The corn starch will help to thicken the sauce.
- Once the olive oil is heated, ad the pork and cook until no longer pink in the middle. Keep a close eye on it, because you don't want to overcook the pork or it will end up tough and hard to chew. Lower the heat to medium and add the garlic and carrots. Cook for about 2 minutes.
- While the carrots and garlic are cooking, mix the sauce in a mixing bowl and combine the ingredients using a wire whisk.
- Add the sauce and edamame to the pork and veggies and leave on the heat until the sauce thickens. This will only take about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve in bowls over brown rice. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro.
- Note
- If you like your Thai food extra spicy, ad some crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Thai Pork Bowls
Serves:
| Amount Per Serving: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 830.74 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 30.72 g | 46.2% | |
| Saturated Fat 8.67 g | 40% | |
| Trans Fat 0.0 g | ||
| Cholesterol 107.16 mg | 35.7% | |
| Sodium 1447.15 mg | 60.3% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 89.17 g | 29.7% | |
| Dietary Fiber 8.16 g | 32% | |
| Sugars 6.22 g | ||
| Protein 46.62 g | ||
| Vitamin A 279.76 µg | Vitamin C 14.87 mg | |
| Calcium 118.09 mg | Iron 4.6 mg | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Ketchum Kitchen
