I
originally posted this recipe in November 2012.
Sorry for the retread but life has meant very little original or
interesting cooking lately!
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!
This looks like a great Sweet and Sour Pork, yum! Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
ReplyDeleteCome Back Soon!
Miz Helen