What is sweet and sour pork made of?

A Chinese stir-fry dish made with juicy pieces of pork tenderloin, bell peppers, onion, and pineapple . Battered pork gets fried until crispy then tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce.

How to make very soft pork?

You can slow cook it in a slow cooker or oven at a low temperature for several hours until it's fully cooked and tender . This will help break down the tough connective tissues and collagen in the meat, resulting in a succulent and tender pork belly.

What is sweet pork made of?

There are a few sweet pork recipes out there but I've found the best one to be this near-perfect imitation of Cafe Rio's sweet pork. The key ingredients are (besides pork, of course) Coca-Cola, brown sugar, chilis, enchilada sauce, and spices . Accept no substitutions!

How do you thicken sweet and sour pork?

Cornflour/cornstarch – for thickening. Sweet and sour sauce is thicker than most stir fries so it clings to the pork pieces!

What spices tenderize pork?

Brine the pork. Brining involves soaking your meat in salt water to increase the tenderness and moistness of the final dish. Brines always contain salt and water, but can also include other ingredients for added flavor like apple cider, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme .

Does lemon juice soften pork?

Lemons are highly acidic, making them a great meat tenderizer. A thick coating of lemon juice applied one hour before cooking will draw water from the meat, thus, improving the meat's texture. Adding too much of this marinade could actually toughen the meat.

How long should you boil pork to make it soft?

Bring to a boil; lower heat, cover and keep on low boil for about 2 hours or until pork starts to fall apart . This can take longer if pork simmers at a lower temperature. This is a good dish to make on cold winter days; the pork can simmer along for many hours if you'd like to hold it longer.

Is sweet and sour pork real Chinese food?

Sweet and sour pork is the most entry-level of Chinese dishes . Few people, young or old, can resist the combination of deep-fried cuts of meat cloaked with that enticingly tangy sauce. The origins of this dish, however, are a bit murky because there are several lines of evolution.

Is sweet and sour pork actually Chinese?

Sweet and sour pork: how one of the most beloved Chinese dishes went global. From takeaway shops to Michelin-starred restaurants, sweet and sour pork is globally one of the most iconic and beloved food items in Cantonese cuisine.

What is sweet and sour pork in China?

The sweet and sour pork in China is quite different from the American version, though. The takeout style is usually heavily battered, deep fried, and swamped in a pool of very sugary sauce. On the other hand, in the Chinese version the pork is cut into thin strips, lightly coated with a batter and fried until crispy .

How do Chinese make pork so tender?

How do you tenderise pork for stir fry? Velveting is a Chinese technique that helps keep meat tender during stir frying. Adding cornstarch and bicarb to your meat during the marinating process helps to coat your meat, giving it a velvety feel that makes the meat feel extra soft .

Sweet Caramelized Pork | Picture the Recipe (2024)

May 8, 2013

The other day I had made some pork with a dry rub, using the same base recipe I use to make my Chili Pork with Peppers (see recipe here). When making the pork however, I had some brown sugar rub leftover and so I ended up tossing that into the pan when I stir fried the slices of pork to get them a little crispy….the result was this delicious sticky sweet pork dish that made me want to sink my teeth into the juicy bits. So that’s how this simple recipe came about.

I’ve since tweaked the proportions of the 5 ingredient rub, making it a little sweeter than the rub I used for the Chili Pork, but I still used cayenne to give it some heat, as well as to add another dimension of flavor other than just sweet. The cayenne breaks up the sweetness and gives the dish a savory element along with a touch of zip, without making it spicy.

I made a big batch of this Sweet Caramel Pork for dinner the other day when my in-laws were visiting and paired it with a bright Sweet ‘n Tangy Apple- Cabbage slaw to make some Sticky Caramelized Pork Sandwiches, which turned out absolutely delicious. They were a huge hit!

I could just eat this pork plain, all day and not get bored of it. My husband said it one of his favorite dinners and voted to have it more often. As simple as this recipe is, I could easily make it a weeknight meal. You could serve this pork up with fried rice, as I think it would taste great with Asian flavors too. However you wish to serve it or eat it, this recipe is a definite MUST-TRY!

Sweet Caramelized Pork

2014-11-30 20:04:02

Serves 4

A super easy, quick and delicious sticky pork recipe that will make you want to sink your teeth into these juicy bits.

Write a review

Save Recipe

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless pork rib meat
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne (or paprika for less heat)
1 tsp ground ginger powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 medium onion
2 tbsp oil
1 green onion (for garnish)

Instructions

– Pre-heat your oven to 375F. Then start by mixing together the brown sugar, cayenne (use less if you’re not a fan of spice or substitute it with paprika), ginger powder, black pepper and salt.
– Spoon over half the dry rub onto the pork ribs on all sides and rub it into the meat well. Save the other half of the rub for later.
– Heat a cast iron/oven proof pan on high heat and add about a tablespoon of oil in it.
– Sear the pork ribs to brown it on all sides, then pop the pan (or transfer to a baking sheet if it’s not oven proof) in the oven pre-heated to 375F for 25-30 mins. Turn the pork over about halfway through the cooking time. Then take the pan out and allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes.
– In the meantime chop the onion into big dice pieces.
– Once the meat has rested, slice the pork into thin slices.
– Heat a little oil in wok or frying pan on medium-high heat and toss in the diced onion. Saute the onion for about 2 minutes.
– Then add in the sliced pork and toss it well with the onion.
– Add the remaining brown sugar-spice mix and stir it in with the pork so it starts caramelizing. Keep stirring the pork around in the caramel sauce, until it becomes sticky.
– Garnish the caramelized pork with some sliced green onion. Serve with rice or as a sandwich filling. Yummmm…

By Noreen Hiskey

Adapted from PictureTheRecipe.com

Picture the Recipe https://picturetherecipe.com/

Print Recipe

Related Recipes & Posts

Sticky Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops
Chili Pork with Peppers
Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls
Guinness Beef Pot Pie

Reader Interactions

Comments

Chrystani says
May 9, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Mmmm… Found this on Foodgawker, and it got my chops watering. I will be making this tonight. Yum!
Reply
Sarah Scott says
May 26, 2013 at 9:05 am
I have just made this and it was quick, easy and delicious. I followed the recipe exactly – no problem. Butcher helped me with the meat as it was not a cut he or I were familiar with, he cut me rib meat. I served it with jacket spuds, salad and homemade coleslaw, will definitely be making this regularly, my boyfriend loved it…..
Reply
Rebecca says
June 5, 2013 at 11:27 pm
Stumbled upon this recipe. Exchanged pork loin roast for the rib meat since all I could find of the latter was bone in (it didn’t turn out dry as I might have feared) and otherwise stuck to the recipe.
The cayenne is currently giving me heartburn — I don’t remember being such a wimp! — but it was so tasty. Met with very pleased reviews from the folks I fed it to, as well.
Thanks! ^_^
Reply
brici says
June 22, 2013 at 7:23 am
omg. thank you so much for this!!! i cant wait to go home and cook now! i want to try all your recipes! i love love love love your blog! i love how everything is pictured! i dislike when other blogs mention a spice or a veggie that i have no clue about and no picture to see what it looks like, i find myself having to google it.
thank you again! im so glad i found this
Reply
Nicole says
November 21, 2013 at 11:43 pm
Thank you for the recipe. It looks absolutely killer. Just wondering whether it would be alright to substitute the ginger powder with grated ginger as the former is unavailable where I live unfortunately.
Reply
- Noreen says
  November 26, 2013 at 8:50 am
  Yes! There’s nothing better than fresh ginger.
  Reply
Alicia says
April 17, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Noreen, i had made this recipe but instead of putting the meat in the oven i sliced it and cooked in a pan . It cooked nicely..
It was yummy! Thanks for the recipe
Reply
- Noreen says
  April 18, 2014 at 7:01 pm
  Yes it’s easy enought to just pan fry the slices. I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂
  Reply
Whitney says
June 23, 2014 at 6:50 pm
I’ve been thinking about making this recipe for my family’s 4th of July get-together. I was wondering how many people this recipe would typically serve? Thanks for posting! It looks great!
Reply
- Noreen says
  June 24, 2014 at 9:14 am
  Hmmmm, I believe the 1 1/2 lbs meat would be about 4 servings. Hope that helps 🙂
  Reply
  See Also
  Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Chopped Salad -- Copycat Recipe is SO DELICIOUS!!
Anneliese says
June 25, 2014 at 10:06 pm
I would really like to make this but I don’t have an oven… can anyone help? I have frying pan, pot, microwave and rice cooker…
Reply
- Noreen says
  June 26, 2014 at 6:17 am
  Hi Anneliese, You can simply pan fry the pork. Sear it first on all sides on high, then turn the heat down to medium-low and cover the pan letting the meat cook for about 15 minutes on each side. Take the lid off turn up the heat and let the juices reduce till its down to just the fat left the pan and then continue the recipe as intsructed.
  Reply
  - Brandy Aguilar says
    November 27, 2018 at 6:20 am
    What if u have bonesless pork diced
    Reply
Wayne Miller says
November 24, 2014 at 6:15 pm
Thank you. My family loved this! I may try adding some Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper to up the heat (& flavor) next time around.
Reply
Kate says
December 21, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Came across this on Pinterest today and decided to make it… So delicious!!! I cut my pork first and then just panned fried it in the brown sugar mixture and it turned out amazing! Can’t wait to have leftovers at work this week. Thanks for a great recipe!
Reply
Sumi says
June 10, 2015 at 3:27 am
hey,ur recettes r so yummy and thé kids love it.thanku so much.
Reply
Bryan M. says
June 15, 2015 at 6:23 pm
LOVED IT, have tried a couple of dishes off your site, and this one forced me to leave a comment!
used a loin, didn’t come out dry. really spiced it up with some birds eyes and increased the cayenne. amazing dish!
I also enjoyed the bbq shrimp, and suggest ppl to check it out.
Reply
Danica says
December 22, 2015 at 11:06 am
The only complaint I have about this dish is that it’s so delish that there are never any leftovers!
Side note, I add a little bacon grease to the final carmelizing cooking stage. I think it gives it an extra little juicy kick. Also it’s very easy to substitute chicken in a pinch and it’s still amazing.
Reply
Stephanie says
October 5, 2017 at 3:57 pm
Delicious! Just ate this for dinner on Hoagie rolls. The green onions were a great touch. Perfect amount of spice and sweetness. A+
Reply
Laura says
June 23, 2018 at 5:10 pm
This sounds, and looks, amazing. I am hosting a party in a few weeks and think this would be a great addition. We will have a lot of people and I plan on offering an additional type of slider, but wondered how much would I need to serve say 15 people? Or I guess maybe round up to 16 and jump everything up by 4? Sorry if this is a dumb question. 🙂
Reply
T. Parks says
July 26, 2018 at 3:56 pm
This was so good it reminded me of sweet and sour porkthank you for the recipe
Reply
Cindy says
March 22, 2019 at 6:15 am
Yum! I made this last night and it was delicious!
I used pork loin instead of ribs and it turned out moist and so good. No leftovers at all! I will make this again!
Reply
Cindy says
April 7, 2019 at 6:21 am
I made this with pork loin, and it turned out way moister then I expected. It was super easy and so delicious! My son who isn’t even a pork fan looked for the left overs which were minimal the next day. I also made the coleslaw recipe she suggests and they was so good as well, all by itself! Definitely will make again!
Reply
Kay Keene says
August 12, 2020 at 5:34 am
I made this last night for dinner, it was absolutly delicious. I had left over rice and left over pasta and then tossed the two together with this sticky sweet caramelized pork. Will make it again.
Reply
Holly Logan says
October 30, 2020 at 2:41 pm
Can this be made in instapot or air fryer?
Reply
Christy says
January 7, 2021 at 12:24 pm
Have made this recipe a few times now. Always turns out so yummy! If you use the cayenne and black pepper in amounts stated above, it most definitely will be HOT! I usually double the ingredients for the “rub” and then substitute 3/4 of the amount of cayenne pepper for paprika…and then I usually only use 1/2 the amount required for the black pepper. It will definitely still have heat this way, but it’s more tolerable for those of us unable to handle extremely spicy foods. Also, I serve it over jasmine rice. Enjoy!
Reply
Elizabeth Dillman says
September 8, 2022 at 5:33 pm
I didn’t have made this recipe three times now and each time it was absolutely delicious. The first time I made it with paprika and no cayenne pepper the second time with a quarter teaspoon of cayenne and 3/4 teaspoon of paprika in this last time a half a teaspoon of each Cayenne and paprika. For us the quarter teaspoon was perfect. Otherwise the rest of the recipe is fabulous as it is. I have gotten so many compliments each time I’ve cooked this. It’s going to become a family favorite
Reply
Elizabeth Dillman says
September 8, 2022 at 5:34 pm
I have made this recipe three times now and each time it was absolutely delicious. The first time I made it with paprika and no cayenne pepper the second time with a quarter teaspoon of cayenne and 3/4 teaspoon of paprika in this last time a half a teaspoon of each Cayenne and paprika. For us the quarter teaspoon was perfect. Otherwise the rest of the recipe is fabulous as it is. I have gotten so many compliments each time I’ve cooked this. It’s going to become a family favorite
Reply

Trackbacks

[…] Previous Post Next Post → Apple ‘n Cabbage Slaw With A Light Cider Vinaigrette Noreen May 6, 2013 […]
Reply
[…] Pork Burritos/Stuff Parents Need Sweet and Sour Pork/Lil Luna Slow Cooked Pulled Pork/Texan Erin Sweet Caramelized Pork/Picture The Recipe Sweet Pork Dippers/The Spice Gals Greek Souvlaki aka Pork Shish-Kabobs/Mandy’s […]
Reply
[…] Sticky Caramelized Pork Sandwiches Balsamic Glazed Steak Rolls Grilled Beer Marinated Chicken Guinness Beef Pot Pie Spicy Chicken Buffalo Bites Spicy Firecracker Shrimp Sticky Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken Drumsticks Mini Mexican Chili Bites Chipotle Pepper Pulled Chicken Sandwich Mini Sausage Stuffed Pretzel Bites Mini Bacon Burger Bites Garlic Parmesan Knots Indian Naan Chicken Tikka Pizza Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Garlic Dipping Sauce Cottage/Shepherds Pie Chili Pork with Peppers White Chicken Enchiladas Lemongrass Chicken Pot Stickers Chicken Fiesta Rice […]
Reply
[…] Sweet Caramelized Pork […]
Reply
[…] Read full preparation method […]
Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sweet Caramelized Pork | Picture the Recipe (2024)

Related Recipes & Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

FAQs

What is sweet and sour pork made of? ›

How do Chinese make pork so tender? ›