Welcome the Year of the Dragon

Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year,

better known as Chinese New Year.

The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year

and this runs in a twelve year cycle.

We decided to make a stir fry tonight to celebrate.

 Pork and veggies with ramen noodles

in a Korean barbecue sauce.

The ingredients for the stir fry:

Leftover pork loin in an applesauce and sherry sauce, cubed
ramen noodles
red onion, diced
carrot, peeled and sliced into diagonal coins
celery rib, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
green onion, sliced into 1/2 inch diagonal pieces
1 clove garlic, grated
Korean BBQ Sauce
Honey
Plum Sauce, not shown

Whenever making a stir fry, it is important to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go before you turn on the heat.  Once the skillet was hot, the dish cooked in about five minutes.

In the microwave, heat 2 cups water in a microwave safe dish to boiling.  Crush up the ramen noodles in the bag and add the noodles to the hot water.  Allow to sit for a couple of minutes, or until the noodles are soft.

Mix a bit of the Korean BBQ Sauce, honey and plum sauce to the remaining apple sauce and sherry sauce from the pork.  Stir and taste.  Adjust amounts until you are satisfied.  You will need about 1/4 cup sauce.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil over medium high heat in a large skillet or wok. 

Drain the noodles and add them to the skillet.  Heat through for a couple of minutes.  Remove the noodles from the pan and add more canola oil. 

Add the carrot, celery and red onion and saute for about a minute.  If desired, you can add about 1 teaspoon of sugar to help the veggies caramelize.  Add the garlic at the very end.  Stir and remove the veggies from the skillet and add more canola oil if needed.

Put the pork in the skillet and let the meat heat through.  Add the noodles and the cooked veggies back into the skillet.  Add the bell pepper and the green onion.

Turn off the heat and pour the sauce over the dish.  Stir to mix in.

Serve immediately.

The ingredients for the sauce.  I added these to the remaining apple sauce and sherry sauce from the pork loin, but you could simply use these or add your own extras to make your own unique sauce.

 The veggies are prepped and ready to go.

 The ramen noodles soak in the hot oil for just a minute or two.

 Before they go into the skillet.

 Then it is time for the veggies.

 These only need to be heated through.  You don't want them to become limp.

Then the pork, which was already cooked, went into the skillet.  Again, the goal was simply to heat the food through.

 Add everything back into the skillet and toss together before pouring on the sauce.

 A light touch with the sauce ensures that the dish is not overpowered.

Easy, tasty and colorful. 

Happy Lunar New Year!