sweet soy pork loin with kabocha and ginger

thus is the result of scavenging one's fridge on a monday night. i returned home hungry and scarfed down some TJ's tzatziki and flat bread and munch on a few handfuls of TJ's veggie chips (love this stuff). a quick glance into the fridge revealed much less ingredients than i thought i had. but i'm pretty good with making do with what i have and, flexing my culinary creative, i came up with this rather tasty and hearty dish. a sweet soy and sesame marinade seasons the sliced pork loin and the same is used in creating the sauce. ginger is always a nice compliment to pork and perks up the dish a little, as does the whole thai chiles. what's missing though is some kind of green note. i originally wanted to throw cilantro or perhaps thai basil into this, but alas none. i need to get a basil plant like edmund has. anyway, on to the recipe...

slice 3/4 lb pork loin and marinate for 15 min in the following:
2 T soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
1 T sugar
fresh cracked pepper

while marinating, prep the following:
1/2 kabocha squash, deseeded, sliced into thin C shaped wedges, green rind trimmed
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 inch ginger root julienned
6 thai chiles, stems trimmed

place the squash in a bowl add a splash of water and cover with plastic wrap. microwave for 3 minutes to precook. add a couple swirls of olive oil to a hot wok and add half the garlic and ginger to fragrant the oil. drain the marinade and add the pork to the wok, stirfrying quickly until med rare. add the squash, remaining garlic and ginger, and the chiles and combine. in a small bowl, combine 2 T soy sauce, 1 T sugar, 1 T fish sauce, and 1 T water. add this to the wok and stir to coat. plate up and serve with steamed rice.

i would add rough chop cilantro to this and perhaps some sliced white onions too. the other route is to throw in a good handful of thai basil at the end (regular basil wouldn't match the sauce's flavor profile). if it's too salty, adjust the soy to water ratio, but the sugar does a good job of balancing the saltiness. if you want more spiciness, slice open and deseed the chiles before adding.