Sweet and sour pork with fresh pineapple |
This
week's ingredient for Food on Friday is going to be pineapple. So I decided to do a simple sweet and sour pork. I was lucky enough to be able to get a half
pineapple that was just perfectly ripe and altogether yummy.
My
first thought was to do pork ribs but the butcher didn't have any that weren't
already marinated so he cut up some pork belly into strips for me.
I
cut them into pieces which were uneven in size because some had bones in
them. But I don't think that mattered
too much in the end.
I
marinaded the pork pieces in a mixture of salt, sugar (actually I used Stevia
for the first time as a sugar substitute), soy sauce, wine vinegar (should have
been Chinese cooking wine but I didn't have any), a heaped teaspoonful of
cornflour (cornstarch) and a spoonful of a five-spice type powder I made up
myself because I didn't have any store bought.
Five
spice powder is normally a mix of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper
and fennel seeds. I ground up a tiny bit
of star anise (watch it, it is a really strong flavour), cassia bark (instead
of cinnamon), Sichuan pepper corns (I like a bit of heat) and some chopped
fresh ginger. So it wasn't authentic
five spice but it smelled good and did the job.
I
left the meat in the fridge – covered of course while I prepped the other
ingredients:
Pineapple
– had to be peeled, the core taken out and cut into chunks.
Onion
– ½ a red onion roughly chopped
Capsicum
– ½ a red bell pepper chopped roughly
Garlic
and chilli – finely chopped
2
spring onions – finely chopped
Handful
of cherry tomatoes, halved
When
the pork had been marinating for an hour or so, I then deep fried it – twice. This is the first time I have deep fried
anything for years and years – so I was a bit nervous about how it would
go. I don't have a deep frier so just
used a deep pot.
I
did the pork pieces in small batches.
And then when they had all had their first cook, I put them back in and
gave them another fry up. I tasted a
corner of one of the pieces to see what it was like and it was so crispy and
yet tender inside, I was very excited about it.
If
only, I had just served it like that. As
you will see once the pork was put into the vegetables and sauce, it lost that
crispiness. Next time I will serve it on
top rather than mixed through.
Setting
the pork aside, I gently shallow fried the onioin, garlic and chilli. When a bit soft I added the capsicum and then
after a minute or 2 the pineapple. I
then put in a store bought sweet and sour sauce – I know, I know – lazy – but it
was recommended to me – and it was ok but I think I should have made my own.
Then
add back the pork and put in the tomatoes.
They only need 30 seconds or so in the pan so you need to figure out
your timing. Serve with the spring
onions sprinkled on top.
It
tasted nice but … it would have been much better if I had kept that pork as it
was coming out of the second deep fry!
I love sweet and sour!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious Carole.
ReplyDeleteThat looks delicious! Love your bowl!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing at Mealtime Monday!
Kaylee
www.couponingncooking.com
Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing at Marvelous Mondays linky party.
ReplyDeleteIt looks really yummy! *drool*
ReplyDeleteI like the colors in this dish--looks very fun/festive! Can you believe that I don't have a single thing posted on my blog with pineapple? Crazy, huh?
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking this week.
This looks heartwarming!
ReplyDeleteI would love to have you share this or any other recipe of yours at Wednesday Extravaganza - my Foodie Link Party with the chance to get a lifetime feature on my Wall of Fame! Here is the link:
http://www.hungrylittlegirl.com/1/post/2012/11/wednesday-extravaganza-3.html
Can't wait to see you there!
My gosh, your dish looks almost too beautiful to eat! Almost .... I bet it is super tasty too! Thanks for sharing at All my Bloggy Friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you share this week! :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great dish, and that's a good tip for serving the pork on top of the vegetables.
ReplyDelete