Chef critique
Chinese Pork & Eggplant Stir-Fry
A wonderfully structured, practical weeknight stir-fry that uses smart techniques to handle the eggplant, though it incorrectly applies a thermometer instruction to thinly sliced meat.
Score: 9/10
Suggested fixes
- In step 8, replace the instruction to temp the pork at 145°F with a visual doneness cue suited for thin-sliced meat, such as cooking 'until the pork is cooked through and no longer pink inside'.
Issues
- medium / cookability: Step 8 instructs the cook to check that 1/4-inch-thick pork slices have reached 145°F. It is extremely difficult to get an accurate reading on such thin slices of meat moving rapidly in a hot wok or skillet, making this instruction impractical.
Strengths
- Excellent ingredient math, cleanly tracking the water distribution across three separate steps to perfectly match the 1 1/3 cup total.
- Smart use of the steam-fry method for the eggplant to achieve a tender, silky texture without absorbing excessive amounts of oil.
- Flawless formatting and placement of the stir-fry sauce bulleted list.
- Well-structured preparation steps that keep all slicing, mincing, and marinating cleanly separated from the fast-paced stir-frying action.