These sweet and sour pork squares bring up many childhood memories for me. The first time we went to the restaurant with the family was to “the Chinese”. And sweet and sour pork was and still is the favorite of my dad. And although he likes to have this delivered by the local Chinese restaurant, I am of course happy to prepare it myself. Not surprisingly, it was already in 2010, January 24 to be exact, that I first published version 1 of this recipe. As I am remaking and restyling old recipes, this is my version 2.0 anno 2021.
sweet and sour pork squares
Ingredients
for the meat
- 300 gram pork minute steaks
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon starch
for the sauce and vegetables
- 2 bell peppers one red and one yellow
- 125 gram pineapple cubes
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 50 ml white wine
- 100 ml pineapple juice
- 100 ml vegetable broth
- 100 ml ketchup
- 1 spring onion
- 2 cm ginger root
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 chili pepper red
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Cut the pork into cubes of about one inch.
- Season the meat with salt and pepper and then marinate it in the egg white.
- Finely chop the chili pepper. Remove the seeds!
- Cut the bell peppers into square pieces.
- Peel the ginger root and cut it into small pieces as well.
- If necessary, cut the pineapple slices into cubes.
- Clean the spring onion and chop it finely. Keep the white and green parts separate.
- Let the brown sugar caramelize in a pot. Then de-glaze it with the white wine.
- Add the chili pepper, soy sauce, the white part of the spring onion and the ginger. After a few minutes, also add the pieces of bell pepper. Let it cook for about 5 minutes with the lid on.
- Then add the pineapple juice, stock and ketchup to the stewed peppers. Let this now reduce without a lid so that the sauce thickens.
- Also add the pineapple cubes.
- While the sweet and sour sauce is cooking, mix the starch with the egg white marinated pork pieces.
- Heat oil in a wok-pan and fry the pork over a high heat.
- Serve with rice and finish with the green of the spring onion.
Nutrition
About sweet and sour pork squares
You’re probably wondering “why squared?” Well, it’s actually very simple. All ingredients are cut into more or less square pieces. Both the pork and the peppers and the pineapple. I therefore wanted to include this quadratic element in the title of the recipe. I hope it sparks some interest. Now you may notice that the rice is not in a square… So did I when I wrote the recipe. That will be something for version 2.x
I used minute steaks for this recipe. In my first version it was still pork roulade. You can use both. Most important is to use very thin pieces of pork. Because I fry them briefly and at a high temperature.
If you don’t want to open a bottle of white wine right away, you can also use some vinegar to extinguish the caramelized sugar. For example, white wine vinegar or rice vinegar. Or whatever you happen to have at home. Opening a bottle of wine is one of my favorite tasks. Then I have a reason to drink it afterwards… I would use a bit less vinegar than wine, because otherwise you risk that the taste becomes predominant.
I remember using white sugar in the first version. In the meantime, I think brown sugar fits better: it gives more flavor and also contributes to the deep red color.
I use canned pineapple and pineapple juice. If you use fresh pineapple, you can replace the pineapple juice with more stock. In that case, I would add honey for extra sweetening. Tasting recommended!
More surprising.sweet&sour
Just like my father, I am a fan of sweet and sour dishes. You may also have a look at these for your inspiration:
More surprising.pineapple
If you have pineapple leftovers, you may use them for these recipes:
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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