Hairy Bikers Spicy Pork and Rice

Hairy Bikers spicy pork and rice comes in at 395 calories a portion, and that number is printed above the recipe. It sits on page 73 of the Hairy Dieters Eat for Life, where it is called an all-in-one, so it serves four in 45 minutes.

That number is low because the recipe is careful about fat, and Si and Dave still call it “a scrumptiously simple family supper with big flavours” in Eat for Life. Only 50g of chorizo goes in, though it colours the whole pan and seasons the rice as everything simmers.

The rice is where this goes wrong, because 150g of it takes 750ml of stock rather than the usual 300ml. That looks like a mistake, though it simmers with no lid and the same liquid has to cook the pork and vegetables too.

Hairy Bikers Spicy Pork and Rice Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time: 30 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time: 45 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:395 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Everything goes into one deep frying pan in stages, starting with onion wedges and finishing with a long simmer that softens the pork. Cumin, coriander and hot chilli powder season the lot, while a single stock cube does the rest of the work. A Hairy Dieters recipe, so the numbers are printed on the page rather than guessed at.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 500g pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1cm slices
• 50g chorizo sausage, skinned and cut into 5mm slices
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 red and 1 orange pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 100g green beans, trimmed and cut into short lengths
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp hot chilli powder
• 150g easy-cook long-grain rice
• 750ml chicken stock, made with 1 stock cube
• Flaked sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Brown the onion: Heat the oil in a large, non-stick deep frying pan or sauté pan, then fry the onion wedges over a medium-high heat for 3 minutes until softened and lightly browned, stirring regularly.
2. Sear the pork: Season the pork with salt and black pepper, then add it to the pan and stir-fry with the onion for 2 minutes until lightly browned.
3. Add the rest: Tip in the chorizo, garlic, peppers and beans and stir-fry together for 2 minutes more, so the chorizo starts releasing its oil.
4. Spice and rice: Sprinkle over the cumin, coriander and chilli powder, then stir in the rice and pour over the stock. Bring it to the boil.
5. Simmer it down: Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice and pork are both tender.

FAQs

Why does 150g of rice need 750ml of stock?

It looks wrong and it is worth understanding, because 150g of long-grain would normally take about 300ml. Here the same liquid has three other jobs: cooking the pork through, softening the peppers and beans, and reducing down over twenty minutes in an open pan.

Compare it with the other rice dishes in these books and the ratio stands out. The jambalaya uses 400g of rice to a litre of stock, and the chicken and chorizo paella uses 400g to about 1.5 litres. Both are far tighter than five to one. Do not reduce the stock here to match them, because the pork will still be raw when the pan goes dry.

Does the pork tenderloin not overcook in twenty minutes?

It is a fair worry, since tenderloin is the leanest cut on the pig and normally wants minutes rather than a long simmer.

What saves it here is the liquid. The slices sit submerged in stock rather than in a dry pan, so they poach instead of frying, and lean pork holds up far better wet than dry. Cut them at the full 1cm the recipe asks for though, because thinner slices go stringy. The pork stroganoff takes the opposite approach with the same lean meat, searing strips hard and getting them out of the pan in ten minutes.

Can I use basmati instead of easy-cook rice?

Not at these quantities. Easy-cook rice is parboiled before it is packaged, so the grains hold their shape and take on more liquid without collapsing. That is the whole reason the recipe names it.

Put basmati into 750ml of stock and simmer it for twenty minutes and you will get a pan of porridge. If basmati is all you have, cut the stock right back to about 350ml and accept that the pork will need finishing separately, which rather defeats the point of an all-in-one.

Is 50g of chorizo really enough?

It is a small amount and it is deliberate, since this is a Dieters recipe and chorizo is where the calories hide. Fifty grams is roughly a third of what a normal one-pot would use.

It still carries the pan because you slice it thin at 5mm and it renders straight into the oil at the start, so the paprika colours everything that follows. If you want a sense of the difference, the big soup uses 75g in a pan holding 1.5 litres of stock and cuts it thicker at 1cm, and you can taste it as pieces rather than as a background.

Will the green beans still have any bite?

Honestly, no. They go in at the two minute mark and then sit through a twenty minute simmer, so they come out fully soft rather than squeaky. That is how the recipe is written and it is not a fault.

If you want them greener and firmer, hold them back and stir them in for the last six or seven minutes instead. There will be a little loose stock at the bottom of the pan whichever way you play it, and it is worth mopping rather than leaving. Focaccia is the obvious thing for that, and it needs a couple of hours proving, so start it before you touch the pork.