A hot day calls for thit vai heo xao khe. The gentle sourness of star shaped starfruit slices wraps around tender pork. The difficulty is speed, since starfruit left too long in the pan goes soft and loses its snap.
The starfruit gets only 2 to 3 minutes once the pork has firmed up, just enough to cook through while staying crisp. The pork marinates for 10 minutes in fish sauce, minced garlic and pepper before it meets a hot pan.
This batch weighs about 653g, at roughly 133 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse the pork shoulder and slice it thinly. Rinse the starfruit, trim off the sharp ridges and slice it into stars. Mince the shallot and garlic and slice the chili.
Marinate the pork with 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, the minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper for 10 minutes.
Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon cooking oil, fry the shallot and garlic until fragrant, then add the pork and stir fry over high heat until firm and aromatic.
Add the starfruit and fold it in gently, stir frying for 2 to 3 minutes so it cooks through while keeping its crunch and gentle sourness.
Taste and adjust, scatter over the spring onion and pepper, turn off the heat and serve while hot.
Tips
Choose pork shoulder with fat running through the lean, which keeps the stir fry juicy rather than dry.
Choose star fruit that is just ripe, green turning yellow, sour but still crisp.
Trim the sharp edges off the star fruit for neat slices and less astringency.
Keep the heat high from start to finish, as meat weeping water is a sign of a weak flame.
Add the star fruit once the pork has firmed up, since early star fruit breaks down and floods the pan with thin sour liquid.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.