Sweet AND Sour Pork

Who doesn't like Asian food? My favorite item to order at an Asian inspired restaurant is always sweet and sour pork. Sweet and sour pork is a Chinese dish that is particularly popular in Cantonese cuisine and may be found all over the world. A traditional Jiangsu dish called Pork in a sugar and vinegar sauce is considered its ancestor. Sweet and sour pork can either be deep fried or stir fried (Below, I give you the stir fried version).

I bought myself an old edition of Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook at a little thrift shop a few weeks ago. I saw the sweet and sour pork recipe and said, "That's it, I want that in my tummy!"

So I went to the grocery store and bought the stuff I needed to make this delicious feast. Now I didn't quite follow the rules (if I did I'd be wondering where my sanity went.) but I did manage to use the same ingredients. I just went about the cooking process a little differently.


Ingredients

1 1/2 Pounds of Pork (I used pork tenderloin cut into 1 inch chunks)
2 Tbsp. Hot Shortening
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
1 20 oz. Can of Pineapple Chunks
1/4 C. Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1/4 C. Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Medium Bell Pepper (diced small)
1/4 C. Copped Onion
Hot Cooked Rice

Directions

1. Brown the pork chunks in the hot shortening. Add the water, and bouillon cube plus 1/4 tsp. salt. Mix well! Cover and let simmer until tender (The recipe says an hour but I am too impatient and did about 30 minutes-- pork was fully cooked and quite juicy!).
2. Meanwhile, drain the pineapple BUT SAVE THE JUICE! If you throw out the juice, you might as well throw out the rest! Kidding, but seriously, save the juice. Combine that with the brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and cornstarch in a small sauce pan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. It will change color to a dark caramel-ish color. That's wonderful :)
3. Remove from heat, mix with the pork.
4. In some hot shortening, crisp up the pineapple chunks, onion, and bell pepper. drain and add to pork. Serve over hot rice.
5. Enjoy!
(**you can substitute the pork for chicken, just use boneless skinless chicken breast.)


Okay so there is that! I love sweet and sour pork so much that if any of you give me a recipe that is better than mine, then I will reward you with a FREE gift and a special feature in my blog.

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