Simple Spicy 5:2 Diet Pork Stir-Fry Recipe

A Simple Spicy Pork Stir-Fry Recipe for the 5:2 Diet – Countdown to Bootcamp:

While I may sometimes lose focus on the 5:2 diet, it has, for me been one of the most successful ways of eating because for the most part it lets me get on with my normal life.  I’m very slowly losing weight by following the fast diet and having two days of 5:2 diet recipes and five of eating sensibly. I’ll admit it’s sometimes two steps forward and one step back, but a condition called hypothyroidism doesn’t help and nor does my lifestyle which involves a LOT of eating out.  Today’s 5:2 diet recipe is for a very simple pork stir-fry which makes use of some of the techniques I learnt at the School of Wok, but is modified to reduce the salt and oil that traditional Chinese wok cookery would use.

Pork fillet is, in my view, a much underrated cut of meat. Anatomically, it is from the same part of a pig that fillet of beef is from a cow. And yet, a good sized fillet that will feed 3 or 4 people is only £5-£8. There’s virtually no fat and no bone, so there’s no waste at all. The meat is very lean and low in calorie (depending on the origin, from 120 to 150 calories per 100g- much the same as chicken breast).  It is so low in fat, you do need to be careful how you cook it to avoid a dry chewy result.  But, just like chicken it works very well in a stir-fry!  This spicy pork stir-fry was delicious.  I added a few egg noodles, but if you wanted a more substantial meal without more calories, you could easily use shirataki noodles in this dish.  A word of warning though,  be very careful about the quantity of hoisin sauce you use.  It’s a delicious, sweet Asian barbeque sauce and it’s very easy to add more than just a teaspoon.

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Spicy Pork StirFry – a 5:2 Diet Recipe

Prep Time

35 mins

Cook Time

8 mins

Total Time

43 mins

 

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 1

Author: Fiona Maclean

Ingredients

• 50 g Pork Fillet Trimmed of any fat and sinew
• 150 g Pak Choi
• 1 Sweet Red Pepper
• 2 Spring Onions
• 25 g Egg Noodles Dry Weight
• 1 teaspoon Hoisin Sauce
• 1 dash Sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Cornflour
• 2 teaspoons Light Soy
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 Red Chili Use half a chili if you don't like spicy food - this is a hot recipe.
• 3 g Fresh Ginger
• 2-3 shots 1-cal oil Or a few drops on a piece of kitchen paper

Instructions

1. Slice the pork fillet into ribbons about the width of your little finger. Mix together the cornflour, half the soy and a dash of sesame oil and add the meat. Marinade for at least half an hour at room temperature or 2 hours in the fridge. Do not leave for more than 12 hours!
2. Deseed the red pepper and slice. Remove the root from the pak choi and slice finely. Trim and slice the spring onions on a diagonal. Finely chop the garlic and ginger. Deseed the red chili and chop finely.
3. Make up the egg noodles according to the packet instructions. Mine require 3-4 minutes soaking in boiling water. I reconstitute them before I start to stir fry, then drain and leave to one side
4. Wipe your wok with a little vegetable oil and heat as hot as you dare. Drain the meat from the marinade. Add the meat, ginger, garlic and chilli. Stir fry on as hot a heat as you can for 2-3 minutes
5. Add in the red pepper and stir fry for a further minute.
6. Add in all the pak choi except the leafy bits and continue to stir fry for a minute.
7. Add in the leafy parts of the pak choi and the drained noodles. Cook for a minute to warm through.
8. Take the wok off the heat and stir through the remaining soy mixed in with the hoisin. Garnish with the spring onion. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary (I find that even low salt soy means I don't need to add any more salt).

Now, over the next few weeks, you can expect a renewed enthusiasm from me about the 5:2 diet.  I’m off on a BootCamp in Spain.  I’ve been asked to review the experience and I felt it would be both churlish and bad karma to refuse, especially since I do still want to lose weight and I definitely need to get a little fitter.  Rather than embarrass myself totally I’m planning three weeks of training to get me prepared…and I’m treating myself to some new trainers and fitness clothes.

Oh and this recipe for Spicy 5:2 Diet Pork Stir-Fry is a mere 250 calories for a portion.  I’ve written the recipe out for one person, but you could easily double the quantities and make enough for two.