I don't cook a lot of East Asian food at home, but one of my go-tos is this Spicy Pork with Asparagus. It's healthy and delicious, makes enough for leftovers for lunch, and truly comes together quickly, with minimal prep!
I have a lot of skepticism about quick, 30 minute meals, because they so often feel hectic and leave my kitchen a mess with no time to clean up before dinner. With this stir-fry, though, I really am able to make it start to finish in just 30 minutes, without being flustered when I sit down.
Many quick meals also are only at their best when they're fresh, but the leftovers of this one are delicious. My daughter's not a huge fan of asparagus, but she liked this more than she expected.
This Spicy Pork with Asparagus has a lot going for it, so I make it often. I hope you enjoy it too!
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I adapted Spicy Pork and Asparagus from Bon Appetit Magazine. I pulled the recipe from the magazine when we lived in St. Louis, and when I rediscovered it during spring cleaning in New Jersey, I decided I immediately needed to try it.
I liked reading Bon Appetit, but often recipes in some food magazines were too elaborate, took too many specialty ingredients, or were simply excessive. This recipe, however, felt accessible to an everyday cook. It's quick and delicious, doesn't have extra steps or super-weird ingredients. It's one of the few recipes I've tried from a fancy food magazine that I've liked enough to make multiple times.
Ingredients
One of the things I like about this recipe is that it doesn't take too many unusual ingredients. And the items that I don't usually keep around are shelf-stable or easy to store!
- Ground pork
- Asparagus
- Soy sauce
- Rice wine
- Fresh ginger
- Oyster sauce
- Sesame oil
- Cornstarch & honey
Try to use ground pork that doesn't have additives. Some packages (like ones sold at Target) have a sodium solution added, which will make your meal salty. If yours has sodium added, cut back on the soy sauce a little.
You can use fresh or frozen asparagus. It's easy to snap off the bottom ends of fresh asparagus; that way you only get the tender vegetable. The woody bottom ends are unpleasant to chew.
I highly recommend using lower sodium soy sauce; it's all I buy. Otherwise, your meal will be salty.
The recipe calls for rice wine. I've used leftover white wine, dry sherry, and dry vermouth, all with success. The alcohol just adds a little richness, and it can be wine that you've let sit in your fridge for so long that you won't drink it. Skip it if you want. DO NOT use sweetened rice wine (mirin), as that will throw off the balance of flavors; likewise, don't use cooking wine, which will make the dish too salty and won't taste good anyway.
Cornstarch tenderizes the pork and gives it a slightly different texture, but skip it if you'd prefer.
Oyster sauce is a less common ingredient but can be found in the international foods aisle at grocery stores. It is actually made from oysters. If you have a seafood allergy, or you can't find it, you can substitute extra soy sauce and an extra bit of honey, although it won't be the same taste. Hoisin sauce, which I also used in my Soy-Cola Braised Pork (and also used in testing the recipe this time), also works fine as a substitute.
Fresh ginger looks odd and knobby, and can be found in the produce section. You don't need a lot; I paid 40 cents for the piece I used for this recipe, and used about a quarter of it. I prefer to use a large box grater, rather than a Microplane, to grate it, but my favorite thing to use is a bullet blender (affiliate link). Once it's ground up, I place it in a thin layer in a zipper bag and freeze it until I need it again.
If you can't find fresh ginger, I expect that frozen ginger cubes or a tube of ginger paste would work fine as a substitute, as long as it doesn't include other flavors like garlic. Dried, ground ginger does not have the same zippy taste; I can't recommend it here.
Sesame oil adds to the nuttiness of the asparagus and adds a nice flavor, just as it does in my Soy-Cola Braised Pork. If you don't have it, just use a little canola oil for sauteeing.
Instructions
The recipe truly does come together in 30 minutes. However, I recommend you pull everything out of the fridge before you start, grate your ginger, and if you're slow at cutting vegetables, go ahead and prep your asparagus. Otherwise, you're good to go.
- Combine soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch. Mix it into the pork and set it aside.
- In a large non-stick pan, heat sesame oil. Cook the asparagus, ginger, and chili flakes, then transfer it to a plate.
- Heat a little more sesame oil, then cook the pork, breaking it up. Cook until it's browned and no longer pink.
- Meanwhile, while the asparagus and pork cook, combine more soy sauce, oyster sauce, and honey, then set aside.
- Add the asparagus to the pork, then pour in the soy mixture and 1 tablespoon water. Cook for a couple of minutes, mixing well. Add another tablespoon water if it seems dry.
Serve alongside plain rice. Leftovers make delicious lunches.
Hint: If everything seems to be cooking too quickly, just turn off the stove. It won't hurt the pork or the asparagus to sit for a few minutes while you grate ginger or mix together the sauce.
Recipe FAQ
I don't see why you couldn't use ground beef or turkey in this instead of pork. I personally don't like turkey, but it may go better in this recipe than beef if you like it.
Soy sauce and oyster sauce both have a lot of sodium, and are the primary ingredients that make up the sauce or seasoning for this dish. Lower sodium soy sauce still has a *lot* of sodium; it's simply less than regular soy sauce. I find lower sodium soy sauce to give the dish the perfect amount of salt. Additionally, if your ground pork has a sodium solution added as a preservative (like the packages I've found at Target), your dish can become excessively salty, especially if you use regular soy sauce.
I've used rice wine, white wine, dry sherry, and dry vermouth in this in the past. The alcohol adds a little richness and acidity to the dish. It's not a lot of liquid, and you can use something old that you've stashed in the fridge and wouldn't drink as a beverage any longer. Omit it if you need to.
The important thing is that you 1) do not use mirin (sweetened rice wine), as that will add sugar and throw off the flavor balance, and 2) do not use cooking wine, which has extra sodium and tastes bad.
If you can't find a knob of ginger in the produce section, you can try finding frozen ginger cubes; some Targets carry these. You can also use ginger paste, as long as it doesn't have extra flavors such as garlic. I cannot recommend dried ground ginger, which doesn't have the same flavor.
Fresh ginger should stay good in the fridge for a few days. I prefer to freeze it for longer storage; it keeps for a long time if you protect it from open air. There are two options:
1. Freeze the knob whole. Pull it out and use a box grater to grate whatever you need for a dish in the future.
2. My preference: Grate all the ginger before you freeze it; I often use my bullet blender for this. Store the ginger in a thin layer in a zipper bag, then freeze. The thin layer makes it easy to break off hunks as you need them in the future, and you won't have to do more prep or grating.
There's not a perfect substitute for oyster sauce in this recipe. You can substitute extra soy sauce plus a little extra honey, which works but doesn't have the same flavor. You can also substitute an equal amount of hoisin sauce for the oyster sauce; the dish is still delicious that way.
Yes and no. Soy sauce and oyster sauce often contain wheat, but wheat-free versions exist. Be sure to check labels.
Other Quick Meals
Here's a few of my favorite weeknight meals!
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Spicy Pork with Asparagus
Equipment
- large nonstick skillet
Ingredients
Pork
- 1 ½ pounds ground pork
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (30 grams; I recommend lower sodium soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoons rice wine, dry sherry, or dry vermouth (30 grams)
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch (12 grams)
Asparagus and Sauce
- 3 teaspoons sesame oil (15 grams, divided)
- 1 ½ pounds asparagus (cut or broken into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 tablespoons ginger (minced or grated)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (plus more to taste)
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce (60 grams) (use lower sodium soy sauce)
- 4 tablespoons oyster sauce (80 grams)
- 2 teaspoons honey (14 grams)
- 1 tablespoon water (15 grams)
- rice to serve
Instructions
- Whisk together 2 tablespoons soy sauce, rice wine, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add pork and mix to combine. Set aside.
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons sesame oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add asparagus, ginger, and chili flakes. Cook for about 3 minutes, until asparagus is cooked but crisp. Transfer asparagus to a plate.
- Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil in the skillet. Add the pork and cook on medium-high heat, breaking it up and cooking until it's browned and the pork is no longer pink.
- Meanwhile, combine 4 tablespoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add asparagus to the pork. Add in the soy sauce mixture and 1 tablespoon water; stir to combine.
- Cook for another 2 minutes, adding another tablespoon of water if the pork seems dry.
- Serve pork and asparagus over rice. Leftover store well in the fridge, make a great lunch, and will stay good for a few days.
Notes
[Originally published April 2, 2018. Revised and clarified in July 2025.]
Leona Konkel says
Clearly, I love my stirfry. I love that it's a legit 30-minute meal, and doesn't leave me frustrated at my kitchen at the end. I hope you enjoy it too!