Juicy 🤤 chunks of pork, bell peppers, onions and pineapple 🍍 are stir-fried in sweet and sour garlic 🧄 sauce. Make it in under 30 minutes with only 15g carbs!
Total carbs 15g, net carbs 13g
⚡️Flashback⚡️ Sweet 🥰& 🍋🐷 sour pork⚡️my mom ❤️ made this family favorite when I was a kid 🤸🏻♀️. I developed this recipe for my 👴🏻 dad, who counts 🤔 🧮 🤓carbs. There is no sugar or ketchup, just sweet, fresh 🍍pineapple chunks and fresh cherry tomatoes. Skip the flour and fried batter coating.
This Chinese 🥢🥡 restaurant stir-fry 🔥 is typically made with fried pork 🐖 coated in thick batter and sauced with a sickeningly sweet sauce. A single serving can be over 50 grams of carbs 😱 and that doesn’t even include 🍚 rice!
Ingredients you'll need
Pork
You can use lean pork, such as pork tenderloin, which is what this recipe calls for.
Or you can use a fatty cut of pork, such as pork belly. I prefer fattier cuts when available. If you use a fattier cut of meat, cook the pork cubes fat side down first, over medium heat, for 2-3 minutes to render and crisp the fat. Consequently, the total fat count in the nutrition information will vary.
Oil for frying
Bell peppers, onions, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes. Chop everything into bite-sized pieces.
Sweet and sour sauce
The sauce is a seasoned slurry of water, cornstarch, soy sauce and vinegar. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce without the addition of sugar or ketchup.
If you like it spicy, toss some dried red chili peppers into the oil while frying the pork for spice.
Equipment you'll need
a wok or a large skillet
How to make sweet and sour pork
- With stir-fries it is important to prep all ingredients first and have them ready to go before cooking because the actual cooking process only takes minutes.
- Prepare the sauce and set aside.
- Season pork cubes and set aside.
- Chop the onion, bell pepper, pineapple and tomatoes and set aside.
- Mince the garlic and ginger and set aside.
- Use a hot and well seasoned wok.
- If using a fatty cut of pork, add cook time to brown and render the fat from the pork. Pour off excess fat into a bowl before adding the vegetables.
Make ahead
Since there is no batter to get stale or soggy, you can make this dish ahead of time, cool it and store it covered in the fridge until ready to eat. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Serving suggestions
You can eat it as is or serve over stir-fried or lightly steamed cabbage. Bok choy, spinach, broccoli and broccoli rabe are also great sides to this dish. Or add a third of a cup of rice for a total of 30g carbs for this meal.
Print
Sweet and sour pork
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
Juicy 🤤 chunks of pork, bell peppers, onions and pineapple 🍍 are stir-fried in sweet and sour garlic 🧄 sauce. Make it in under 30 minutes with only 15g carbs!
Ingredients
sweet and sour sauce
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (use any vinegar that you have on hand)
meat
- 1 pound pork tenderloin, boneless, cut into 1 inch cubes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- a dash of white pepper (use black pepper if that is all you have)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin
veggies
- 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- a pinch of salt and a dash of white pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce. Whisk together water and cornstarch until thoroughly mixed. Mix in soy sauce and vinegar and set aside.
- Season pork cubes with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cornstarch and toss until completely coated on all sides.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, swirl it around to coat the bottom of the wok. Add ginger for 5 seconds, then add pork and stir-fry (stirring constantly) until browned and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer pork and ginger to a plate.
- Stir-fry onions, peppers, and garlic for 1 minute. If you used a lean cut of pork, such as tenderloin, you may need to add more oil. If you used a fatty cut of pork, such as pork belly, then there will already be plenty of fat in the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
- Return pork to wok, add tomatoes and pineapple. Whisk sauce before adding to stir-fry, then pour into wok and toss all ingredients to coat. Bring the sauce to a bubbling boil then lower heat and simmer the sauce for 3-5 minutes until it thickens.
Notes
If you used a lean cut of pork, such as tenderloin, you may need to add more oil.
If you used a fatty cut of pork, such as pork belly, then there will already be plenty of fat in the pan. Remove excess fat before step 4.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: American
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