Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Rosie Makes Sweet And Sour Pork.

 
  All the Hawthornes love a good stir fry
and like I've said before,
if we want one, I have to do it.
I do not find the ChinaMacs down here acceptable.
The fried wonton strips are consistently stale.
The meat is generally stringy/tough.
And their egg rolls are substandard.

So, Rosie is making her version of Sweet and Sour Pork for lunch.

And she got very OC on her vegetables.
Celery, carrot, onion, portabellas.
 
 Added in some garden peppers.


Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB ketchup
pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 small red bell pepper, cut into cubes
1/2 small green bell pepper, cut into cubes
2 TB cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water.
Combine sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, salt, pineapple juice, and vinegar.
Bring to a boil.
Add in pineapple and peppers.
Bring to a boil.  
Reduce to simmer.
Add in cornstarch slurry, and cook, stirring,
until mixture thickens.
Cover and set aside until stir fry is ready.
Serve hot over the pork stir fry.

Here's a little tease for you.
This is my goal.

Back to the sauce:
Boily!  Boily!
Add in cornstarch slurry and stir until thickened.
Cover and set aside.

I had three boneless pork loin inch-thick slices
which I cut into bite-sized pieces.
I tossed these with a little soy sauce -
a tablespoon or two,
then tossed them in a bit of cornstarch.


My mise en place.

Top left:
Cubed pork in soy and cornstarch
Batter for pork:
 1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup water, as needed

Cutting board on right:
Cornstarch slurry
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Baby corn
Bamboo shoots and sliced water chestnuts

Cutting board on bottom left:
Celery
Pepper
Onion
 Portabella
Carrot
Pineapple chunks
 Sweet and Sour Pork
Heat peanut oil in wok over high heat to 350°.
Add in vegetables and cook, stirring, about 2-3 minutes.
Remove from wok, pour into a bowl, and cover.
Reheat wok and more peanut oil over high heat to 350°.
Shake excess batter off pork and fry in batches.
You don't want to crowd the pan,
which lowers the temperature of the oil,
and gives you greasy  food.
Maintaining proper temperature is key to frying.
This is what gives you a crisp crust.


Serve stir fry over rice and pour the sweet and sour sauce over top.


So it's not authentic Asian.
It's still good.

And by the way, the  ChinaMacs are in no way authentic Asian either.






2 comments:

Marilyn said...

Rosie Woks!

I visited my favorite Chinese restaurant today. They don't have a buffet, but they do have two different menus: one for us Americans and an authentic one for the Asians.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

We have no decent Chinese restaurants here. It's sad.