The posts this week and next week will be brief, because I’m taking a vacation in London with my mom for 10 days! YES, LONDON! One of the most awesome cities in the world!
In this post I will share a few photos during the trip plus one recipe with you. 🙂
We arrived at Gatwick airport on the 6th of June, early in the morning. It was just in time for the sunrise when we landed. The airport was so peaceful and tranquil.
We took the red eye flight and I was worried we’d be tired after 11 hours of flying. But luckily, we rested very well and slept almost straight through the whole journey.
(Up – Gate of Buckingham Palace; down – guard outside of Buckingham Palace. It’s a pity that Buckingham Palace is not open this time of year, so we only walked around outside and had a peek through the cast iron gate.)
During the first 3 days, we’ve been walking around a lot, 5 to 6 hours every day. Because the center of London offers so many things to see, I never felt tired of walking. We visited a few sightseeing spots and museums, but enjoyed most of our time outdoors.
(Up – St. James Park; down – Piccadilly Circus)
The weather was perfect everyday, sunny and warm, with temperatures around 20 Celsius. It’s the kind of weather that you want to stay outdoors all day in, just to enjoy the joyful sunshine, refreshing breeze and blue sky. There are so many parks, greens and squares in the center of London. On weekend afternoons, it seems like everyone comes out and crowds around cafes and bars, in the meadows or anywhere under the sun, with a pint of beer or a glass of champagne in hand.
(Up – swan in St. James Park; down – squirrel in St. James Park)
The sharing of travel photos will end here today. I still have so many photos, including of course those of delicious food, that I want to share with you. I promise more beautiful pictures will come later.
And now, back to the topic of food.
The art of Chinese cooking revolves around the use of simple and fresh ingredients to make flavorful and healthy dishes. This zucchini and pork stir-fry proves that theory quite well. This recipe only uses a few ingredients with a quick stir fry, but results in a very satisfying dish combining the meaty-textured zucchini, fragrant chili peppers and soy sauce, and juicy pork with a seared surface.
This recipe is especially easy and quick to prepare for a weekday dinner. It contains both protein and vegetables, and goes great with a bowl of steamed rice. Sometimes when I am alone at home and want to be lazy, I just cook this dish and finish it all without making any rice to go with it. The total calories amount to less than 500 and the meal is low in carbs. How great is that?
Zucchini and Pork Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 100 grams 3.5 ounces pork tenderloin, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or rice wine
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
- 2 dried chili pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 zucchini seeds removed and sliced
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add pork, Shaoxing wine, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cornstarch and ginger, mix well by hand. Marinate for about 15 minutes.
- Heat wok on medium high heat until hot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and swirl. Add marinated pork from step one and stir fry, until pork is slightly seared on the outside but not cooked through, about 30 - 40 seconds. Turn to lowest heat transfer pork to a plate, and set aside.
- Add the rest of the oil into the wok and turn the heat up to medium. Break chili peppers and add them to the wok (for less spiciness, don't break them but add them whole), add garlic and give it a stir until fragrant. Turn to medium high heat, add zucchini and stir fry for 1 minute or slightly longer, until almost cooked through. If wok is getting too hot, adjust heat while stir-frying. Add pork back into the wok, give it several stirs to mix everything, and turn to lowest heat. Add the rest of the salt and mix everything with a spatula. Add soy sauce and give it several stirs (the wok should be still hot and you should hear a sizzling sound while adding the soy sauce. If not, turn back to medium heat for the final stirs). Stop heat and transfer everything to a plate.
- Serve warm with steamed white rice.
The nutrition facts are calculated based on 1 of the 2 servings produced by the recipe.
This looks yummy Maggie! Do you think this would turn out well with chicken instead of pork? Haven’t eaten it since I was a kid. I hope you have a great time in London! Love that image of the swan, btw.
Hi Christine, this one is definitely good with chicken. You could use chicken breast instead and the method will be the same.
Thanks for all the kind words! 🙂
Thanks Maggie, I’m gonna try this with chicken breast! Hopefully it turns out as well as the pork version…fingers crossed.
Do let me know how it goes and happy cooking! 🙂
Maggie, I made this as one of our dinners last week, and it was soooooo freakin’ delicious!! My husband absolutely loved it. I made it with chicken thighs instead of pork since I don’t eat pork or red meat. I doubled the recipe so we’d have leftovers for a few more meals. I must admit that I was a bit intimidated by the amount of ginger and garlic called for, but it turned out fabulously and really added to the authenticity of the dish. Thanks for a delicious recipe Maggie!
Hey Christine, I’m so glad you used my recipe and like it! The chicken thighs idea sounds absolutely delicious and I’d like to try it myself some time. In Chinese cooking, it always calls for quite big amount of fresh ginger, garlic or green onion to boost flavor. They work like a magic! 🙂
Have a great week ahead and happy cooking!
Your London pictures are really beautiful, especially that baby geese and squirrel! I hope to visit one day! This dish looks very easy. I don’t cook many stir fry dishes, but this one sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it. Enjoy your trip!
Hi Lokness, I’m glad you like the recipe and the photos. My trip was really great, just came back today and still feeling excited. Time to cook and post again! 🙂
Such cool pictures- Hope you had an amazing trip! I am loving the looks of this simple stir fry, pinned to try soon.
I made this for dinner tonight. It is SO good! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I’m so glad you like this one Thea! Thanks for leaving a comment. Have a great week 🙂
I cooked this tonight following part of the recipe and it was great. I cut out the pork and just turned this into a vegetarian dish (though I’m sure it would be really good with pork or chicken). My girlfriend really loved this dish, especially since I added some vinegar upon her recommendation (she’s from the north of China, of course). I used a bit more oil because the zucchini absorbed quite a bit at first, but then I noticed after a short while the zucchini releases some of it’s juices, so I think I’ll use the recommended amount next time.
I also made the broccoli with oyster sauce dish tonight following the recipe pretty closely and it turned out delicious! I’m not sure which one I prefer, this one or the broccoli stir-fry, they are both wonderful and quick to make.
Hi Luke, thanks so much for taking time to leave such a thorough feedback!
Actually most of the time we do not add protein into this dish, because it’s much faster that way. This is one of my favorite veggies that I use to pack my lunchbox back to China. I cooked it every week. Adding some vinegar at the end of cooking sounds like a great idea! I’ll definitely try it out next time.
Yep, both this dish and the broccoli one are quick and easy. I’m really happy to hear you like them both.
Thanks again for the comment. Have a wonderful week ahead! 🙂
Very Good. Added some chopped red onion with the garlic and 1/3 – 1/2 cup of chicken broth to make it a bit saucy. Delicious!
Hi Scott, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the dish! Yep, it totally makes sense to add more chicken broth to make more sauce. Will try that out myself the next time 🙂 Have a great day!
Made this tonight and my family loved it! Thank you so much! I’ll make it again!
Just made this but used fresh red chilli and added some snow peas I had on hand. Simple, easy and delicious