Sauteed Pork with Veggies

This one is easy to make, especially when you have Filipina friends to do all the chopping.

From sauteed pork with veggies

We had a get-together last Saturday, when I brought lechon paksiw. We needed veggies and I had most ingredients on hand. But the way we Filipinos cook, we usually have protein-rich ingredient with veggies, and that means bits of either pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp. I brought the veggies, and told the hostess she needed to provide the meat. No problem! So chop they did, and I started cooking.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, sliced
1 lb pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 small upo, cut into chunks (similar to zucchini, only tougher and more solid)
3 tomatoes, sliced
handful of green beans
half cabbage, cut into chunks
salt and pepper to taste
ground dried basil leaves

Instructions:

Sautee garlic and onion in 2 tbsp oil until translucent. Add pork and stir-fry until browned. Add tomatoes until caramelized. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Add carrots and upo and cook for about 2 minutes then add green beans and cook for another 2 minutes. Finally add the cabbage. Sprinkle with some basil leaves. Enjoy while hot.

Note: Never cover stir-fried veggies (I was told by a friend/classmate from Medicine class). This tend (I observed it as well) to lessen the lively color of veggies that they appear like they are no longer crunchy, although they still are (if you stir-fry them first such that they get coated with oil before they steam from their own juice).