Sweet and sour pork is considered a traditional Chinese dish that has an original taste and aroma. The secret of this dish lies in the right sauce. The dish is exotic and features an unusual combination of pork, tomato paste and pineapple.
Pork preparation
To prepare this dish, you must choose fresh meat of a young animal, which will have a pink color and a minimum of layers. Defrost frozen pork in a large piece naturally at room temperature, do not immerse in hot water. Then rinse the meat and pat dry with a paper towel, cut into small cubes across the fibers, about 1.5 cm thick. If the meat is a little hard, then it must be beaten off.
Braised pork with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce with vegetables
The highlight of this dish will be the sauce, which should be sour and sweet at the same time. Sugar, fruits (such as pineapples), sweet vegetables, or honey can be used to add sweetness. Apples cider vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, or acid can add a sour taste to the sauce. Starch is used to thicken the sauce. You will need the following ingredients:
- 700 g of pork;
- 400 g of canned pineapples;
- 500 ml of tomato sauce;
- 50 ml of soy sauce;
- sweet bell pepper - 1 pc.;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- 2 tbsp. l. potato starch;
- ginger;
- vegetable oil;
- salt (to taste);
- sugar (to taste).
First, prepare the marinade for the meat: add starch, ginger and a little sugar to the soy sauce, stir, then place the cooked pieces of pork in it and leave to marinate for 30-40 minutes.
Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger, fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and chop finely. Wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds, stem and core, cut into small strips. Add the carrots and peppers to the pan and fry for about 3 more minutes. Open the jar of canned pineapples, drain and add pineapples to the toasted vegetables, stir well and continue to fry for another 3 minutes.
Take a second frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in it, put the pork in one layer and fry on both sides until golden brown.
Next, combine the contents of two pans, add the tomato sauce, stir and continue to simmer the pork in sweet and sour sauce under a closed lid for 15 minutes until tender. For this dish, it is better to choose a Chinese sauce, you can also cook it yourself: combine tomato paste, ketchup, water and aromatic herbs.
Braised pork in sweet and sour sauce with pineapple and vegetables is ready and can be served with any side dish, such as rice, potatoes or pasta.
