Ground pork and fresh asparagus are sauteed in a sweet and spicy Asian sauce, then served over rice in this unique and delicious dish.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I love scouring Pinterest and food blogs for new recipes, and every once in awhile, I come across a truly unique recipe idea, like this Sweet and Spicy Pork and Asparagus.
Normally, I’d expect a stir fried pork recipes to use sliced pork (like what you’d expect from your favorite Chinese restaurant), so I was really intrigued by the idea of using ground pork in a stir fry.
Well, let me tell you, it was amazing! Especially as an accompaniment to the fresh asparagus.
And the sweet and spicy Asian inspired sauce was the perfect way to bring it all together.
I honestly wasn’t sure how my kids would feel about this dish–especially with the asparagus–but they cleaned their plates and came back for seconds and thirds. And my husband and I loved it too!
When shopping for this recipe, make sure to look for plain ground pork. You don’t want ground Italian sausage, or anything with seasoning, since that might throw off the flavors of the recipe.
Of course, you could always add other veggies, just make sure to use vegetables that will cook in about the same time as the asparagus, like peppers and mushrooms.
This sweet and spicy pork stir fry was perfect served over warm white rice, but rice noodles would be another great option.
I like to finish things off with a sprinkling of sliced green onions and sesame seeds too. But that’s entirely optional.
This unique, flavorful pork dish is one that will definitely become a part of our regular menu rotation. I hope you love it as much as we did!
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Cornstarch
- Produce: garlic, asparagus, jalapeno, fresh ginger, green onions
- Ground pork
- Sesame oil
- Spices: red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
- Rice vinegar
- Cooked rice, for serving
Sweet and Spicy Pork and Asparagus
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pound ground pork
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 bunch asparagus trimmed and cut into into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
- 2-3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3-4 green onions sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, cornstarch and garlic cloves. Add the pork and toss to blend.
- Heat the sesame oil in a heavy large wok or deep skillet over high heat. Add asparagus, jalapeno, and ginger and red pepper flakes. Cook until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the asparagus mixture to a plate.
- Add the pork mixture to the pan and cook until browned, using wooden spoon to break up pork into small pieces, about 3-4 minutes.
- Return asparagus mixture to pan. Stir in rice vinegar. Stir-fry until pork is cooked through, another 3-5 minutes. Add water by tablespoonfuls if it becomes too dry. Add green onions; toss to incorporate. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve over rice.
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Nutrition
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5 comments
Krista
This is so good. I did t have any asparagus on hand and used fresh green beans instead and it was amazing. Can’t wait to try with the asparagus but this is a great meal for a large family on a budget too! Such a flexible delicious recipe.
Diane
I made this with 1 lb ground pork and added sliced fresh mushrooms to double the veggies (because that’s what I had!). Also the lowest sodium soy sauce I could find & 3 tlbs instead of 6 to reduce the sodium. Yum! This is a really flexible recipe and I can imagine lots of summer veggies would substitute in nicely.
Dawn Carpenter
Yes I loved this recipe . It was quick and easy to make. The sausage mixed into the soy sauce , brown sugar ,garlic and cornstarch before cooking allowed the flavors to flow through every bite. Normally I would have added seasoning while cooking . This opened up a whole new way to make meat sauce. Even though I skipped the red pepper flakes and scallions and used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, I would definitely recommend this recipe. I’ll be sure to try it again with all the ingredients listed.
Carissa Nelson | Spoonful of Easy
Hi Danelle,
Yum! I was really intrigued by this as well! I have some ground sausage in the fridge – is that similar to the type of pork you used? Plus not enough recipes use asparagus. Excited to try it!
Danelle
Carissa, the pork I used was plain ground pork (packaged like ground beef). I found it in the meat department. I think you could also use the ground breakfast sausage that comes in the tube. They might even be the same thing.