November 22, 2023

Sweet and sour without a jar

This recipe makes a sweet and sour sauce that is a lot healthier than jars and has no additives. It is quick and easy to make, and often I can make it with what I have in my cupboards, fridge and freezer.  We eat a lot of this kind of meal, and stir fry, during the summer when I can pick vegetables from the garden, but I also like it in winter too. Most vegetables that you have in the house will do, including frozen veg, or a mixture of fresh and frozen as I used here.  Sometimes I will use pulled or raw chicken if I do not have any pork.
Recipe
6oz of pork, or more if you want.  I like to use loin.
Vegetables of choice (today I used fresh carrot ribbons, 1 small yellow courgette, 1 small onion, a quarter of a red pepper, a quarter of a green pepper, some frozen peas, some frozen sweetcorn and some frozen peas.)
I small tin of pineapple chunks (or rings cut up) in natural juice
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/3 cup of vinegar (I used white wine but any will do)
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour mixed in 2 tbsp of water.
Method
1. Put some oil in a wok and cook the meat and the onions until there is no pink in the meat..
2. Add a splash of water and any carrots and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Meanwhile in a separate sauce pan put the pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Stir in some cornflour mixture until you get a thickish consistency and set aside.
4. Add the courgette and the frozen veg to the wok, cook for a minute. Add a splash of water if the pan goes dry.
5. Add the pineapple. Cook for another 1 or 2 minutes until all the veg is tender.
6. Pour as much of the sauce from the saucepan into the wok as you want, and mix through the stir fry. There is usually a bit of liquid in the wok from the frozen veg which will thin your sauce a bit and so I make mine on the thick side. If the sauce seems too thick add a splash of water.
7. Serve on its own or with noodles or rice.
This meal took me about 15 to 20 minutes, including cutting up the veg. I put the rice on first if I am using it as a side dish.
This made enough for 3 of us, but you can make double if you have more mouths to feed.

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5 Comments

  1. Corrina November 27, 2023 at 8:09 pm - Reply

    Oh Toni, this was so tasty! Made tonight for our meal exactly as above and was a hit with everyone – Thankyou! Will now be adding to my cookbook with all the other recipes of yours that I have tried! :)

    • ToniG December 1, 2023 at 3:48 am - Reply

      Aww. I am so glad. Thanks so much for bothering to write a review. That is really kind of youx

  2. Amanda April 6, 2024 at 8:43 pm - Reply

    Toni have just made the S&P sauce to have with shop bought chicken balls. Wow the family all agree as good as a takeaway but so much cheaper. Thank you so much! X

    • ToniG April 7, 2024 at 12:31 pm - Reply

      Aww thanks for your feedback. It does taste wonderful. We make about 3 batches a year. I am glad that your family enjoyed it

    • ToniG April 8, 2024 at 1:50 pm - Reply

      No worries. I am glad that you liked it. There are less additives in it as well. Thanks for the feedback

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