Rainbow sheen (as in it looks iridescent) is fine. It's just the grease refracting light. If you heat it goes away.

Is it actually kind of a rainbow sheen in parts? If so, it could be nerve endings -- when cut a certain way, they have this look. You can see it sometimes in sliced ham. (Gross, I know.)

Ha. OP here. I go 1 week for cooked meat- presuming it will be well heated. Buuuttt I nixed the stir fry. Bummer cause there was a lot left. Bad fridge management. I am thinking it was some weird reaction with the stir fry sauce, but prob not worth it.

We eat home-cooked leftovers from the same time range as you--three to five days old. No problem. I'm very careful with clean food prep and good refrigeration.

Anonymous wrote:Home cooked leftovers get tossed within 3 days in my house. As far as what caused the blue spots, not sure I would trust it.

Wow--we often eat leftovers 3-5 days after so long as they smell ok. Is 3 days really the rule?

And this would be big, considering how many people don't eat pork!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh just saw the autocorrect in my subject. BluISH not bluefish. Now that would be bad.

No, that would be AWESOME! The transmogrifying fridge!

Then this thread would belong in the religion forum.

Anonymous wrote:Uh just saw the autocorrect in my subject. BluISH not bluefish. Now that would be bad.

No, that would be AWESOME! The transmogrifying fridge!

I've had stir fry go blue/purple occasionally. It wasn't because it was spoiled, just a reaction between the garlic and acid used in the sauce: in some cases I've seen it turn before I've even put the leftovers in the fridge. From what I've come to understand, garlic contains anthocyanins, which turn blue or purple in acid. It's more common in immature garlic, and it's not harmful to eat. If the garlic is touching sometihing (in my case, usually egg or tofu) it can stain that blue, too. Anyway, maybe that's what you have going on.

Pork that has been sitting in teriyaki sauce or acidic stir fry sauce can indeed turn blue. But what is a bit odd is that you seem to be describing small blue spots, instead of pork that is entirely blue (which is what the sauce would do).

Two other possibilities:

1. There is indeed a blue phosphorescent bacteria that grows on pork, and would be splotchy (and even grow in the dark a bit). It is more common in China and I would imagine would take more than three days to grow, so this sounds unlikely.

2. DId you use minced ginger in the stir fry? The ginger could have turned blue in the fridge, and the chunks of ginger stuck up against the pork would have left ginger-sized blue splotches on the meat (much like how meat stored next to red cabbage will get red spots).

Home cooked leftovers get tossed within 3 days in my house. As far as what caused the blue spots, not sure I would trust it.

Uh just saw the autocorrect in my subject. BluISH not bluefish. Now that would be bad.

Made stir fry mid week in a cast iron pan. Just went to pack leftovers for lunch tomorrow and several pieces of pork have bluish spots. Doesn't look like mold but clearly not the color I expect to see. Anyone seen this before? Veggies include stir fry greens, carrots and broccoli. Nothing I think could turn it blue. Wondering if it's from the cast iron. Probably won't eat it but just posting on the long shot it's something silly (like when you think you're dying with blood in your stools and then remember you ate a bunch of beets the day before...) Thanks.