I’m sure we all love a good stir fry. It cooks quickly, it’s healthy, it’s hard to find someone who wouldn’t enjoy it… just the perfect combination so to speak. I think that most people use chicken when cooking this dish, but personally, I prefer pork instead.

My pork stir fry recipe calls for a lot of vegetables, but since it’s such a versatile dish you can definitely tweak it to your own likings. In case you don’t like some of the vegetables I am about to use, just leave it out or replace it with some other type.

What cut of pork to use in a stir fry?

This dish cooks pretty quickly so it’s a good idea to use pork types/cuts that don’t require long cooking times. In my opinion, pork tenderloin is the best cut but you can also use pork loin. Just make sure you cut the meat against the grain and ALWAYS aim for fine and thin slices when using pork loin. In the case of tenderloin, bigger pieces are still fine.

TIP: Pork tenderloin is so good! Read my pork tenderloin tips and cooking ideas post to learn more about this cut of pork. Here are some more recipes using pork tenderloin: Grilled pork tenderloin, Pork tenderloin skewers, Pork tenderloin medallions and Pork schnitzel with mayo potato salad.

Do you need to use all the sauces?

Well yes, stir fry is an Asian dish so you cannot really cook it without using some Asian sauces. Soy sauce and oyster sauce are a MUST. Shaoxing wine helps too, but that’s one you could leave out without ruining the dish. Rice vinegar could be replaced with regular vinegar or lemon juice. Sesame oil is hard to replace with anything so that’s a must have too. As for the sweet chili sauce, I like to add it but that’s another ingredient you don’t really have to add.

List Of Ingredients

Meat:

1 pork tenderloin 500g / 1 pound

Vegetables:
1 red and yellow bell pepper
1 zucchini
3 cloves of garlic
2 spring onions
2 carrots
1 red onion
3 tablespoons of peanuts (optional)
1 inch big piece of ginger

Sauces / Liquids:
1 cup of beef or chicken stock
3 teaspoons of soy sauce
3 teaspoons of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of Shaoxing wine
2-3 teaspoons of potato starch
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of sweet chili sauce

Spices / Seasonigs:
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of sugar

Sides
Noodles of choice or rice
Sesame seeds for garnish

How to cook pork stir fry

Check the video recipe below or read on, step by step instructions are below.

Start by trimming the pork tenderloin, we need to remove any silver skin or fatty parts. Once cleaned, cut the meat into small pieces.

I like to marinate the meat before cooking it, so let’s do it now. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce, one tablespoon of Shaoxing wine, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, one tablespoon of sugar, one teaspoon of sesame oil, one teaspoon of potato or corn starch, one teaspoon of rice vinegar and a tablespoon of sweet chili sauce. Finish it up with a generous amount of white pepper, mix well and let marinate.

We can prepare the vegetables in the meantime so we have them ready when we start to cook our pork stir fry. I’m using one large red onion that simply I cut into bigger chunks. Next comes one small zucchini and I’m leaving the skin on. Go on with 2 carrots, peeled and cut into pieces.

Bell peppers come next, I’m using both red and yellow ones, about one half of each. This will give this dish some nice colors. We need some garlic too, 3 finely sliced cloves should be enough. Let’s not forget some spring onions, I have 2 pieces and I’m using both the white and green parts. The last vegetable I’m using is fresh ginger, peel and finely slice it. By the way, as mentioned at the beginning, feel free to skip some vegetable type or add some that you like.

Let’s prepare a bit of sauce that we will use later on. Mix about a cup of beef or chicken stock with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and a heaping teaspoon of potato or corn starch. Mix well and set aside.

TIP: In case you don’t have any stock at hand use just water and drop in half of a bouillon cube.

One last thing before we start cooking. We need to prepare the noodles. The type I’m using today doesn’t need to be cooked, so I’m just soaking them in hot water for about 10 minutes.

And now to the fun part. Heat up a large wok and add some oil. I’m using rice oil today, but feel free to use your favorite type.

TIP: I strongly prefer using a wok when making this pork stir fry, but a regular pan or skillet would work too.

Add the meat and fry it from all sides. In case the meat starts to stick to the bottom, add a splash of water and deglaze the wok quickly. Fry for about 5 to 7 minutes and take it out of the pan.

Don’t clean the wok and add a bit of oil again. We will be adding the veggies gradually, starting with garlic and red onions.

Stir fry for 2 or 3 minutes and go on with ginger and carrots.

Stir fry for 3 more minutes and add the rest of our vegetables. And again, should anything start to stick to the bottom, add a tiny splash of water.

Stir fry for 3 more minutes and add the sauce. It’s a good idea to mix it again, before pouring it into the pan as the starch tends to settle at the bottom.

Mix properly and give the sauce a taste. In most cases it needs some salt and a bit of extra white pepper. The sauce should be on the thicker side from the starch, if it’s not, just mix a bit of extra starch with water and add that into the wok.

We are almost done, add all the meat and mix properly.

My wife loves some peanuts in a stir fry so I’m adding some, but you don’t have to.

All looks good so it’s time for the final step. We need to mix the noodles in. This can be a bit tricky to be honest. I like to use two spatulas, it’s a bit easier that way. Go from the bottom and pull the noodles up slowly. This way, the noodles won’t break that much.

TIP: You can actually stop here and skip the noodles. Rice works great as a side dish for this meal.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, just make sure that the noodles are covered with the sauce nicely.

And we are done, it’s time to serve. I like to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of my stir fry, but again, this is an optional step.

And that’s it for today. Thanks for reading and see you soon! 🙂

TIP: Want to try a pork stir fry recipe from some other blogger? Here is one I liked.

Optional Tip For This Pork Stir Fry

• As I have mentioned already, you can play with the vegetables and change the types. Here are some popular choices for a stir fry: cabbage, broccoli, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, bok choy, green beans, snow peas, mushrooms of choice… use whatever you like.
• I’ve mentioned this a few times here on the blog already… my wife hates spicy food so I usually refrain from using anything spicy when I cook. But adding a few chilies or some spicy sauce would definitely take this pork stir fry to another level 🙂
• You don’t have to use the same noodles as I did. Chose the type you like the most… rice noodles, glass noodles, udon noodles, soba noodles… the choice is yours.
• You can use the same recipe with another type of meat. Chicken, turkey (breast), beef… all work fine, just make sure you do not overcook the meat.