Fried Pork With Ginger and Sweet and Sour Rice

A recipe by Gary Rhodes

Wok to it with this tasty, Chinese-style stir-fry and rice dish.

This is a great recipe that takes hardly any preparation. And, apart from the fresh ginger, you’ll probably find all the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard. Boiled rice is ideal for the sweet and sour rice dish and I like to use pork tenderloin or fillet – when cubed or cut into strips, both these cuts fry quickly. Vegetarians can use mushrooms, peppers and courgettes instead of pork. Anything goes!

Serves: 4

Ingredients: Sweet & Sour Rice: Olive oil, for frying; 1 onion, chopped; 2 tsp brown sugar; 2 tblsp malt vinegar; 1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce; ¼ tsp Tabasco sauce; 1 dsp tomato ketchup; 1 x 14oz (400g) tin chopped tomatoes; salt, black pepper; 4 fresh tomatoes, optional; 12oz – 1 lb (350-450g) boiled rice.

Pork: 1 – 1 ½ lb (450-675g) pork tenderloin or fillet; 2 tblsp olive oil; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 1 tsp freshly chopped ginger

To make the sweet and sour rice, heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for a few minutes. Take care that it doesn’t brown. Add the brown sugar and the malt vinegar and bring to the boil. Add the Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces.
Stir in the tomato ketchup and tinned tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Make sure you add all the juice from the tinned tomatoes, as it helps create the sauce. Simmer until the liquid thickens and it has reduced in volume by about one-third. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
If you are using the fresh tomatoes, blanch, skin and dice them. Add them to the sauce at this stage. Add the boiled rice to the sauce and check seasoning. Put to one side in a warm place.
Season the pork with salt and pepper and cut it into cubes or strips. Heat the olive oil in a wok or frying pan until it’s very hot. Add the pork, garlic and ginger. Fry on a high flame until the pork is well coloured and tender. To serve, dish out the rice on to plates and place a portion of the pork on top of each.
Tip: If you add a splash of soy sauce and a pinch of caster cane sugar at the end of the cooking time, this gives the pork and rice even more of an authentic Chinese flavour.