SWEET AND SOUR PORK
Sweet and sour pork is our usual pick when we go for a Chinese takeaway. This homemade version tastes pretty similar but is much more nutritious!
Instead of being deep fried, the coated pork pieces are lightly fried (with much less oil) for a couple of minutes, then finished off in the oven. This makes for a less stressful cooking experience too, as you can make the sauce and rice while the pork is cooking in the oven, rather than trying to do a million things at once on the stove!
SWEET AND SOUR PORK
Sweet and sour pork is our usual pick when we go for a Chinese takeaway. This homemade version tastes pretty similar but is much more nutritious!
Ingredients
SAUCE
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 brown onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 420 g canned pineapple pieces in syrup (14.8oz)
- 2/3 cup water (160ml)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (60ml)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (50g)
- 1 Tbsp cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup water
- 3 Tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp finely grated ginger
- 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
PORK
- 1 egg
- 500 g diced pork (1lb 2oz)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 cup cornflour
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
TO SERVE
- 1/2 wong bok (400g/14oz)
- 2 spring onions
- 2 x 250g pouches brown rice (2 x 8.8oz)
- 2 tsp butter
Instructions
PREPARE VEGGIES FOR SAUCE
Dice carrots, celery and onion. Crush garlic. Drain syrup from pineapple into a bowl.
COOK PORK
Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) fan bake. Whisk egg in a medium-large bowl. Add diced pork and season with salt and pepper. Stir well, then drain off excess egg. Add cornflour and stir to coat (or you could shake egg-coated pork pieces with cornflour in a zip-lock bag). Discard excess cornflour.
Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Cook pork pieces for a couple of minutes, until starting to turn golden and crispy. You may need to do this in two batches. Place on a rack set over a roasting dish and bake for 20 minutes.
COOK SAUCE
Whisk together 2/3 cup syrup from the drained pineapple (there should be enough - if not, just use what you have), water, vinegar, sugar, cornflour mixture, tomato sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ginger and crushed garlic.
Wipe down frying pan used to cook the pork and heat oil over a medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook for 5 minutes, until tender. Add the whisked sauce mixture and simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in pineapple (you don’t have to use the whole can if you don’t want to) and turn heat down to low while you finish preparing the meal.
PREPARE RICE
Shred the wong bok and slice the spring onions. Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. Heat butter in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat and add wong bok. Season with salt and pepper and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Stir in cooked rice.
SERVE
Stir pork into sweet and sour sauce. Serve on rice and sprinkle spring onions over the top.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: A Rosé is a good choice.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Make sure your cornflour, tomato sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce are gluten-free.
INGREDIENT SWAPS: You could use chicken instead of pork (chicken breast or boneless chicken thighs both work well). White sugar can be used in place of brown sugar. If you can’t find wong bok. use green cabbage instead.
STORING AND REHEATING: Keep individual portions in the fridge and reheat in the microwave as required. You could also keep the components separate and reheat the pork in the oven, so it doesn’t go soggy.
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1 Comment
What do you mean by “place on a rack set over a roasting dish and bake”?
Do you mean not to place the pork pieces in an actual baking dish, and rather place the pieces directly on a rack so they drain? (Like a BBQ?)
Thank you