Sweet-and-Sour Pork

This was very tasty! And we have plenty left over for at least 1 more meal. Tastes very much like our Thai take-out place down the street although clearly getting it from them is a lot less work...but not as much fun :)

The flavors are all good and I don't think we'd really change a thing although I do which the dough had stayed on a bit better during frying because we like the pork to be a little bit crunchy. But it was still good. And next time I will use a slicer for the carrots since doing it with a knife took longer than I'd hoped. A bit labor intensive all around, actually and quite a few pots needed, but we will definitely be making this again. I may even try canning the sauce part so that we only need to add the fried pork or chicken to the dish later on.


Sweet-and-Sour Pork
Yield: 6 servings

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
Vegetable oil
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large carrots, scraped and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1 clove garlic, minced
Hot cooked rice

• Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir with a wire whisk until well blended. Add pork, stirring mixture well.
• Pour oil to depth of 2 inches into a large heavy saucepan; heat to 375 degrees F. Carefully drop pork into hot oil, and fry 5 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Arrange pork on single layer on a baking sheet; place in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm while frying remaining pork.
• Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Set pineapple aside. Add enough water to juice to make 1 cup. Combine juice, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; stir until sugar dissolves. Set aside. Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water, stirring until smooth; set aside.
• Pour 2 tablespoons oil around top of preheated wok (or in a large skillet), coating sides; heat at medium-high (375 degrees F) for 2 minutes. Add carrot and next 3 ingredients; stir-fry 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in juice mixture. Bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Stir in cornstarch mixture, cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add pork and pineapple; stir-fry until thoroughly heated. Serve over rice.

Source: Southern Living's 30 Years of Our Best Recipes