Lychee Pork Stir Fry with Plum Sauce

Just last week in vegetable starch class we were given the outline on our dish to plan for the last practical. I immediately felt that I wanted to make a unique dish with influence from one of my favorite regions, Asia. So before committing to anything in class that could eventually be my demise, I did this test run at home. Fruit is a requirement in our final presentation plate, which some may find difficult to incorporate. This actually inspired me to seek out new recipes and other Asian influenced dishes with fruit. After much deliberation I decide to try something new, a stir fry with lychee fruit. For the plating I decided to serve it on a bed of fried rice and braised celery (two other requirements). The roasted tomato requirement seemed out of place when first considered in the dish as a whole, but turned out to be successful as a refreshing palate cleanser. The desert that I'm planning to pair with this will be a simple grilled fruit kabob with melon, strawberry, and some others that I have yet to determine. So on to allocating ingredients.

A recent trip to the New Asian Supermarket on S. 26^th Street in Omaha proved to be very useful. Everything that I could possibly want was there, including a five pound bag of Oolong Tea for 11.99 that I'm going back to get this week (something I probably don't need). I purchased my first can of lychee fruit and was anxious to try it. As soon as I got it home I got the can opener out and popped the top. They looked at first glace like large white olives with the pits removed. Their texture is soft and reminds me of the flesh of apricots, while the flavor is sweet and somewhat tropical with hints of mango and pineapple without the acidity. My girlfriend and I both really enjoy the taste, and it has become one of the new fruits on her top ten favorites list. The stir fry was done in my favorite wok over high heat and took only 4-5 minutes to cook. The fried rice was equally as fast and some of the best that I have made in a while. Have your "MISE EN PLACE" done BEFORE STARTING COOKING. All recipes below are currently estimates due to the speed at which they were prepared. Brands of sauces as well as ingredient may vary, so adjust accordingly to your own taste. The braised vegetable need more work, not much to say other than the celery was overpowering and avoided by my girlfriend and I. The tomatoes were simple and really quite nice to visit every now and then while eating the dish. I used a very potent candied ginger (aka New Year Candy) which was ground in my spice grinder until it had the appearance of course sugar. The tomatoes were then rubbed with vegetable oil and rolled in the crystallized ginger. These were cooked at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes.

Fried Rice:
2 T vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
1 c cooked white rice
2 T soy sauce
1 T hoisin sauce
1-2 t Sambal Oelek
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Finish with 3 scallions and 3-4 drops sesame oil

Lychee Pork:
0.5 lb pork loin
4 T vegetable oi
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t grated ginger
1 T shallot
1 med onion, julienne
1 small red pepper, julienne
1 small green pepper, julienne
2 med carrot, julienne
½ c chicken stock
2 c bean sprouts
¾ c lychee fruit, quartered
1 t hoisin sauce
¼ c plum sauce
2 t rice wine vinegar