When we think of pork butt, steaming it in a slow cooker comes to mind. It's the common cut that is used to make pulled pork or pork carnitas. However, pork butt can also make an excellent stir fry. I used to think the reason we used pork butt for pulled pork was because it needed to be cooked low and slow to tenderize it. While the low and slow gives us fall-apart tender pork - it's not the end-all, be-all for a cooking method. So I give you an alternate use for this cut of meat: Pork Butt Stir Fry with Carrots & Bok Choy.
For Pork Butt Stir Fry Try to Get a Boneless Cut
I usually buy a boneless pork butt (aka Boston Butt) for this stir fry, but I couldn't find one. So first I will tell you: get a boneless one if you can so you don't have to debone it. Woof. I'd never done that before and I succeeded but it was not exactly pretty. Does anyone watch the food competition shows Chopped or Beat Bobby Flay? Scott Conant is a regular judge on both shows and a fantastic chef as well. He and Alex Guarnaschelli are my favorites! The thing about Scott is he can get a little snotty when he judges the chefs on Chopped.
One time, there was a challenge that required more advanced knife skills and one of the contestants struggled and simply wasn't a polished enough chef (in Scott's opinion). When she was judged, Scott gave the most humiliating feedback I've ever seen. He said something like, "I found your knife skills offensive," spoken with such disdain and taken sooooo personally it was truly shocking.
When I deboned this pork butt, his words were ringing in my ears. First, I knew I wasn't using the proper knife, but I didn't have the knife I needed so I used what I had. Second, my knife was not sharp enough. While I was deboning, I kept thinking of those words..."your knife skills are offensive." Don't worry, I soldiered on and was eventually laughing my way through deboning the darn thing. I imagined myself breaking a bunch of spaghetti in half before throwing it in boiling water while Scott Conant watched. Breaking spaghetti in half is considered a capital crime in the culinary world.
The funny part about deboning is it's actually pretty easy. Find the bone. Use your knife to cut around it to get the meat. That's it. It really is that easy.
You Should Give Pork Butt a Chance
There's a lot of flavor to the pork butt, which is actually a part of the pork shoulder not the derrière like it sounds. It's not pork (the other white meat) it's a darker meat of the pig. To me, it's like the difference between chicken thighs and chicken breast. I'll always take the dark meat because it's so much more flavorful!
One of the keys to cooking this pork is to make sure your pan is hot and you cook the pork on high heat. This is why I don't add the garlic to the marinade. It will burn and ruin the the dish. We've got to get a nice, little crust on the pork - it really makes a difference. The sweet and spicy sauce is so easy and if you love cooking with an Asian flair you probably already have the Indonesian sweet soy sauce, chili sauce and gochujang (Korean chili paste) on hand.
This works great to serve a crowd or for having leftovers for lunches! I love making more than I need because it builds meal prep right into your life in a very easy way. Fill up your bento boxes and you're set for lunch!
Craving More International Delights? This Should Get You Started:
- Mie Goreng-Fried Indonesian Noodles with Chicken
- General Tso's Chicken with Trader Joe's Hack
- Anthony Bourdain's Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- DanDan Noodles (dandanmian)
- Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage
- Thai Lettuce Wraps w/Rotisserie Chicken
- Korean Beef Bulgogi Over Rice
Pork Butt Stir Fry with Bok Choy & Carrots
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 portions 1x
Description
Super easy pork butt stir fry bursting with flavor. A sweet and spicy sauce, crazy delicious pork and crunchy bok choy. Great for serving a crowd.
Ingredients
*NOTE: TIMING ABOVE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE OVERNIGHT MARINADE
- 4.16 pound boneless pork butt (approx.)
- 6 small to medium carrots
- 1 medium onion
- 5-6 baby bok choy bunches
- 5-6 small to medium cloves of garlic
For the pork marinade
- 1 heaping tablespoon of grated ginger
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
For the sauce
- ¾ cup Indonesian sweet soy sauce (see note #1)
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (Sambal or other)
- 1 teaspoon gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- Olive oil, as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the rice
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cut the pork butt into bite-sized pieces. Mine was 4.16 pounds but I think anywhere around the 4 pound mark should be fine. I couldn’t find a boneless one so I did debone it first. Have kitchen scissors ready to trim fat where needed. We need some fat for this recipe but anything hanging or too thick, just cut it off. Put the pork pieces in a large bowl.
- Grate ginger and add to the pork.
- Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the pork bowl. Mix all ingredients together well, making sure that the pork is evenly coated in the olive oil, ginger, salt and pepper. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinate overnight.
- Once the pork is marinated you can start the other prep. If you are making rice with this you should start cooking that now. Follow the package instructions. When I make two cups of rice I always add butter and salt as listed above. If you don’t want to use butter, olive oil is fine too.
- Peel and chop the carrots. I cut mine at a diagonal angle with ¼” slices. If yours are a little thicker or thinner it will take a bit longer (or shorter) to cook them.
- Put your carrots in a pan on medium heat with a little olive oil (maybe a teaspoon), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Give it a mix around for a minute or two. Turn the heat down to low and cover the carrots with a lid that has no steam holes if possible. Let them steam on low for 15-20 minutes until fork tender. You should mix a few times and check to make sure the carrots don’t burn. Set aside in a bowl when done.
- While the carrots are cooking, peel and chop your onion into bite-sized pieces.
- Peel 5-6 cloves of garlic and then finely dice.
- Chop the bottom root tip off the baby bok choy and wash. Chopping the bottoms off will separate the bok choy leaves. I always wait until after I chop the bottoms off to wash because there is often dirt down there. I left bok choy in whole pieces. If you prefer chopping it you can do that too.
- Make the sauce by adding the sweet Indonesian soy sauce (I use ABC brand), garlic chili sauce, and Korean gochujang to a bowl. Mix to combine.
- I used two pans to cook the pork. You can re-use the carrot pan here (no need to wash). Cooking all the pork in one pan risks a crowded pan which creates more steam and water. If that happens you will not be able to crisp the pork. I used two pans and divided the pork evenly between them. Cook on HIGH heat. You don’t need to add any oil here. Break up any pieces that got stuck together then don’t touch the pork. Let is crisp and brown on one side. This should take a few minutes. Once the pork is nicely seared, turn the pieces over to cook the other side 2-3 minutes more. I used kitchen tongs to make sure all the pieces got turned over.
- Once all the pork is cooked, you can combine the two pans of pork to make one pan with the pork.
- Use the other pan (on medium heat) to cook the onions on their own for a minute or two. Add a splash of olive oil if needed here. Add the steamed carrots to the pan and cook another minute. Add a little olive oil in center of pan and put the garlic there. Let it cook for a minute to get fragrant then mix everything together.
- Add the carrot, onion, garlic mixture to the pork pan. Heat should be medium. Stir together well.
- Add the sauce to the pan and mix to coat all ingredients.
- Once everything is coated, add the bok choy to the top and put the lid on pan. Turn heat to low/medium and let bok choy steam until slightly wilted. Should take a couple minutes.
- Remove lid and transfer stir fry to a platter or just serve yourself directly from the pan.
- Rice should be ready. Spoon pork butt stir fry onto rice and enjoy.
Equipment
Plastic Mixing Bowls with Lids
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Calphalon Saute Pan with Lid (5QT)
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- A good Asian market will have Indonesian sweet soy sauce and Korean gochujang. The garlic chili sauce can be found in most regular grocery stores in the International aisle.
- As mentioned above and in the blog post, it’s better if you can get a boneless pork butt. However, if you can’t, deboning isn’t that bad and should only take about 5-10 minutes.
- Yes, you can use regular sized bok choy. They never have it where I shop so I always get the baby. If using the large kind you may need to chop that before adding at the end. Chopped Napa cabbage would work well too.
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