Cooking at Home: Fiery Hunanese-Style Pork with Green Onion-Ginger Rice

Fiery Hunanese-style pork with green onion-ginger rice
I thought I'd try something a little different this week and picked the fiery Hunanese-style pork with green onion-ginger rice from Hello Fresh. I normally don't go for the Asian kits from Hello Fresh because they're usually disappointing, and sadly, this was no exception. It wasn't terrible — there was a good aroma and the pork had a good texture — but it definitely wasn't great. First of all, they made the rookie mistake of including basmati rice instead of jasmine rice, so the grains were way too loose and it didn't absorb any of the sauce. Secondly, it is not spicy at all. I don't have some crazy spice tolerance or anything, but this was mild at best. Thirdly, it used too much oyster sauce, so it was just way too salty-sweet — almost sickly — especially combined with the soy sauce-mirin blend. (I mean, I know I should taste as I go, but these recipes are supposed to be fool-proof with their measurements.) And fourth, there wasn't nearly enough bok choy to add that crunch that this dish so desperately needed. So yeah, I've officially learned my lesson: no more Asian or Asian-inspired kits for me.