Diced Pork

Many of my med school days (and nights) were spent in a generic cafeteria-style restaurant on P. Gil called Orchid House. "Orchid," as we fondly called this place, was where we went when we wanted decent food in a comfortable atmosphere for a fairly reasonable, student-friendly price. For us, it was kind of like "Cheers" where "everybody knows your name."

Sadly, Orchid is no more. They changed their name a few years ago and I'm not sure if the familiar faces are still there. But Orchid is and will always be part of my med school memories. And their "diced pork" will remain in my culinary consciousness forever.

This is my tribute to that dish...

400 g lean pork, diced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Knorr liquid seasoning
2 tbsp. minced garlic

Marinate pork in the next 4 ingredients for 1-2 hours. In a large pan, fry the garlic and set aside. In the same pan, put 1/4 cup of oil and add the pork. Boil on high heat until almost all the marinade has evaporated. Turn the heat to med-high and fry the pork in the remaining oil until all the marinade is gone and the pork pieces become slightly crisp on the outside. Drain well. Put in a serving platter and top with the fried garlic. Serve with lemon/soy sauce/chili oil mixture and eat with copious amounts of rice.