Pork slithers with chives

Pork slithers with chives give a lovely nutritious balance of protein and green-onions; and the meal is so quick to prepare and cook.

Make sure you have a small corner for one or more patches of chives in the garden; they are so easy to grow. Start by using a sharp-knife or kitchen scissors to slice off a good handful. Snip out any dried bits, but not the flowers; they give your pork slithers extra crunchiness. Rinse them a few times.

This recipe will make enough pork slithers with chives for two-persons.

Pork slithers and chives lunch plate.

Ingredients

  1. 100g of pork-steak
  2. A good handful of fresh flowering-chives lightly chopped into bits
  3. Thumb-sized piece of fresh, peeled ginger
  4. A few cloves of garlic
  5. Marinade of 1 TBSP hummus, 1 teaspoon soy and 1 tsp beer; or just water
  6. 2 TBSP butter or coconut-oil for frying

Go for it

  1. Mix together your marinade.
  2. Cut the pork into slithers against the grain, and toss into the marinade.
  3. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy pan over a medium-high flame, or better still an induction plate.
  4. Toss in the garlic and ginger; and then drop in the pork, stirring constantly for just a few minutes.
  5. Turn down the heat, toss on the chives and a little salt; and stir-fry for no more than two or three minutes. Add a touch more beer if it's looking dry.

Now that did not take long; you have a wonderful nutritious meal for two.

I often toss a few leaves of parsley or cilantro into my cooking. They are so much more than a garnish; believe it or not, reputed aphrodisiacs.

You will not be able to taste small quantities, but it is part of our determination to enjoy at least ten different coloured foods every day; science proves that there is a 35% lower all-cause of death. That is massive.

Slow food, cooked fast is our motto and, where possible combine it with a short-walk down the garden to pick the chives; anything to lower the blood-glucose, turning it into glycogen instead.

Perhaps see if God is down there, or a family of fairies; we call it forest bathing[3]. Calm the soul and do some deep breathing; it all helps in this stressful world.

Chives, ginger and garlic.

Just snip off a bunch of chive-fronds with scissors, wash and pull out any dead bits, but use the flowers.

They have a subtle flavour that is without measure.

Chives and parsley garden.

Chives and garlic are from the onion family; they have an important phytonutrient called allicin. It's a powerful anti-oxidant[6] that also reduces cholesterol-production by the liver.

That's where the cholesterol in our blood originates, not the fat we eat; the liver turns glucose from our food into triglycerides. The larger molecules are tagged onto proteins to make up the LDL and other components.

Get more coloured-foods into your meals every day, even in small quantities, but we refuse to count. The chives, garlic and ginger would all qualify; and those in the hummus.

Chickpeas make a useful thickening agent, rather than corn-starch or refined flour both of which we avoid; they are very fattening and do nothing for the dish. Since we usually have a large tub of this authentic hummus recipe in the fridge, they are always on hand. Otherwise we keep small packets[5] in the freezer.

Read more about those so-important phytochemical foods that will enable you to stay off medication and supplements; make sure you have a selection every day. They are in common places like grapes, apples and onions, but one does need a wide variety daily.

They taste so good.

Pork slithers marinade.

Is it the fat on the meat, or the bun baked from refined flour that is public enemy number-one? The debate rages on, so don't feel dismayed and confused; even the scientists cannot make up their minds. Perhaps it is both.

If you think it could be both then lean pork slithers with chives, using no starch at all may be the solution.

Pork slithers and chives.

Fat or carbs?

If it's your belief that it is the fat on meat which makes us obese and contributes to heart disease, then cut it off first. If however you think that refined-carbs are the enemy then avoid a hamburger bun, but feel happy to have the lard on your pork; and a slice of artisan bread[4] made from 100% flour on the side, with plenty of butter.

Today, with corn on the cob, actually we don't need any other starch at all.

Pork slithers with chives

Pork slithers with chives are so quick to make. My estimate is ten minutes to forest-bathe[3] whilst picking and washing the greens, fifteen to slice the meat and marinade; and five more to cook. That is not much over half an hour, from start to finish.

I made mention above of an induction-stove; every family should have one. They are inexpensive, cook much faster than gas or a conventional electrical hob and use half the power.

An alternative pork slithers with chives

Portable induction stove.
  • 1 lemon or lime
  • 100g pork-steak
  • A large handful of chives including any flowers
  • Olive oil and butter
  • 2 tsp capers
  1. Peel the lemon, remove the pith and split into segments; fork out any pips.
  2. Slice the lemon segments into small pieces.
  3. Wash and chop the chives.
  4. Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil into a heavy-bottomed pan and turn up to moderate heat. When shimmering, drop in the slithers of pork steak.
  5. After a few minutes turn the pork-slithers and brown on the other side.
  6. Remove the pork, add a chunk of butter and swish the oil about for a couple minutes until it browns.
  7. Add the lemon-pieces and again swish them about until a thick emulsion is formed; drain the capers and drop them in together with the chives.
  8. Toss the pork back into the butter and serve as soon as it's hot with boiled or braised new potatoes. 
Braised new potatoes.
  1. This is our portable induction stove.
  2. How to grow chives from Fine Gardening will give some useful tips on this hardy-herb.
  3. Forest bathing
  4. Artisan bread
  5. Freezing chickpeas
  6. What are antioxidants good for?

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