Lemon-Tomato Pork & Asparagus Stir-Fry

I get stuck on cooking techniques, throwing different ingredients into the same rubric. Lately it is some lower-heat variation on stir-frying. I fry things on medium-high heat until they are browned, and then add a sauce, usually containing something sweet, which cooks a bit and possibly caramelizes while it coats the ingredients.

Maybe I liked this because I ate it like finger food with bread and a pool of salted olive oil, or because it was something fresh, not the same crap I find myself eating day after day. If I see another egg, another slice of buttered toast, another pancake, another bowl of yogurt with jam, another grilled cheese sandwich, or another salad of Costco greens, I might vomit. Or despair. Or more likely, something far less dire. That is the problem: alas, one cannot not eat for days and then have an occasional exciting gustatory experience. Life is so hard.

Strangely, I am not describing this as something disgusting. I’m not even describing it. I’m just saying that I liked it. Who the hell am I?

3/4 pound pork chops cut into 1/4inch thick pieces
1 small bunch asparagus chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Sauce
3 tablespoons cooking oil
salt to taste (1/2 teaspoons?)
a pinch or two of black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons thick tomato sauce with scallions and chiles (this was something I had made for pasta--approximate using 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and a little bit of hot sauce)

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, begin frying the asparagus in cooking oil. After two minutes mix in the pork. Fry for ten to fifteen minutes, or whenever the pork is almost cooked through, stirring every few minutes. Add sauce and mix thoroughly for half a minute as it boils off a bit in the pan, then remove from heat.

Brown Sticky Asparagus

~24 asparagus stalks
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Smash garlic cloves, peel, and then chop finely. Chop off hard ends of asparagus stalks (~2in?). Melt butter in large saucepan with a thick bottom on medium-high heat. Throw in garlic and fry until golden brown. Remove garlic to a small bowl, keeping as much butter in saucepan as possible. Pour maple syrup and soy sauce into small bowl and stir together. Begin frying asparagus in saucepan. Coat well with butter. Stir every two minutes. The goal is to get them brown or charred on as many sides as possible, and to cook them until soft. Once they are soft enough to your liking, pour in liquid mixture, remove from heat, and stir asparagus around to coat them. The liquid should boil off very quickly and caramelize a bit from the latent heat of the pan. Serve immediately.