Traveling Tuesdays...Japan!

So I asked Matt (as I usually do) Japan or Korea? And he said Japan. So I got to researching on the internet which sometimes takes a really long time because I always have specifics on the meal; which usually revolves around calorie count and if it's been reviewed by other people. I like to see others opinions and what they did or didn't do with the recipe. This time, however, I was super lucky and came across this really neat website that a twenty something girl in Japan has been posting on. Her recipes are traditional Japanese recipes that are "healthy and easy to make." Sold! I got to looking around and found a couple of really interesting recipes that were few ingredients (more of looking in the pantry and trying to use up stuff before we move!) and that were really easy time wise. I let Matt choose ultimately and he chose a Mushroom and Pork Stir-fry! It was delicious! And I can't wait to share...so here it is!

MUSHROOM AND PORK STIR FRY
Serves 2 (I made it for 4, but did not double the sauce)

Ingredients (with some tweaking!)

1/2 lb pork tenderloin sliced (I used 1 lb)*
1/4 lb Maitake mushrooms*
1/4 lb Enoki mushrooms *
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 green onions chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp soy sauce (I used lite/low sodium)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper and salt at the end

Added:
~1 tbsp chili garlic sauce (for heat)
Good bunch of yummy snow peas! (for color!!! and taste!)

*Notes: As noted, I used a one pound pork tenderloin by Hormel. They had a $2 off coupon at the commissary so I took advantage. These pork tenderloins are super yummy and it just so happened that they had a teriyaki flavored one, so I went with that. And honestly, it added to the taste! I also could not find the type of mushrooms that the recipe called for (I knew I wasn't going to be able to and any case, she said all mushrooms work) so I used shiitake mushrooms, baby portabellas, and regular white capped mushrooms (since I had those for another recipe). I took about 6-8 of each and sliced them up. It looked like a lot, but once cooked down it's not that much and I loved the flavor. I had never worked with shiitake mushrooms before. They smelled pretty shroomy and the under part of the cap was really furry feeling. :) :) :) But I liked them!

Directions:

All sorts of mushrooms!!

First thing I did was the chopping before dealing with the pork (once again!). I'm a huge freak when it comes to germs and cross contamination, which is probably a good thing. So I chopped up the mushrooms (after washing them) and washed the snow peas. Minced the garlic (I used two big cloves...can't go wrong with garlic! Although my dad wouldn't agree tee hee) and finally chopped up the green onion.

Snow peas!

The next thing I did was rinse the pork and pat dry before slicing it. I used the same technique as last weeks recipe slicing the pork length wise then into smaller slices. It worked out well! And since it was teriyaki flavored it already smelled really good. After slicing and dicing :) I put the tablespoon of butter (I used I Can't Believe it's Not Butter Light with Olive Oil) and the minced garlic into my pan and started the cooking! I love the smell of garlic cooking!

yummy!!!

Obviously not cooked yet :)

Once the garlic cooked, I added the pork in and cooked it until I could not see any pink left. While the pork was cooking, I mixed together the sake, sugar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and salt in a small bowl and set it aside. I then removed the pork from the pan and cooked the mushrooms and snow peas in the juices that the pork, butter, and garlic had given off. I cooked them until they were tender.

Once everything was cooked, I added the pork back into the pan along with any juices that had accumulated and also added the sauce mixture in. I brought it to a boil and made sure everything was evenly coated then turned down the heat. The last thing I did was sprinkle the chopped green onion over the stir fry. I served it with simple white rice and a nice salad of course!

I'm not really sure of the calorie count, since she did not provide it. But I looked into other stir fry type dishes that had similar if not more added ingredients and they were running between 250 and 300 calories a serving. So I'm cool with that! :) And honestly, it was a very healthy flavorful dish. Everything was very fresh and simple, which is a great way to just let the flavors shine without anything covering them up. The sauce was very light and didn't require a lot of any extras that I didn't have...besides the sake. Which I went ahead and bought. Matt has never had a sake bomb. I figured maybe I could make him one someday soon :) Overall, I was really pleased with this dish. I actually want to make other things that she has listed on her website. So I may do that one day! :) I hope you are able to try it. Here is the website and if anyone tries anything else off of her recipes, let me know! :) http://www.japanfoodaddict.com/pork/mushroom-pork-stir-fry/
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So on an unrelated note, this week I've been thinking about doing a post for Saturday and have kind of been thinking and brainstorming about it. Saturday is May 19th which was the date that Anne Boleyn (my historical heroine!) was executed in 1536. For many of you that know me, I have a passion for Tudor history, a passion that would fill up several bookshelves in fact. It's developed rather quickly over the past three years and I just can't learn enough about it. It's not just the Tudors themselves, but the history leading up to it (aka War of the Roses type stuff). It's the intrigue and mystery of it all. I feel, though, that Anne's story is a sad one. And since learning about her, I feel for her as a woman. She lived during a time when men ruled the world and yet, she held her own. I have always believed her to have been innocent...merely caught in a world of manly politics. This week has been one where many historical events have happened relating to her death. Most recently, yesterday (5/15) would have been her trial (along with her brother) where they were both convicted and learned that they would die. I can't even imagine what they were thinking and what they were going through. Feeling powerless and not able to stop anything that was happening. I feel her story, along with the others involved is an important one. Not only because she was unjustly convicted and sent to death for something she didn't do, but also because in those moments of not being able to do anything and feeling that powerlessness set in, she stood strong and courageous until the end. And I think that's what I most admire. Her strength. So I feel that I should honor her somehow and will be posting something on Saturday about her. Until then, if you want to learn more about her and others during that time period, I suggest looking into my favorite website www.theanneboleynfiles.com. Claire has been doing some great articles this week and it's worth a look!  Until then, I hope everyone has a great day!! :)