The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / cucumbers / So You Think You’ve Had Sweet And Sour?: Thai Sweet And Sour With Pork

So You Think You’ve Had Sweet And Sour?: Thai Sweet And Sour With Pork

February 1, 2009 By Laura 11 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email

Thai Sweet and Sour with Pork
Do you associate sweet and sour Asian dishes with heavy, almost gloppy stir fries served with breaded and fried, sometimes greasy, chicken or pork? I am not claiming I did not once enjoy that Chinese American restaurant staple, but I promise once you try the Thai version you won’t look back. The sauce should be sweet, yes, but light and refreshing. The meat, in my opinion, should never be breaded or deep-fried. The vegetables should be fresh and crisp. I will accept a pink sauce, indicating the presence of some ketchup, but I like to keep the ketchup to a minimum.

Like many SE Asian stir fries, this dish is simple to prepare, as long as you have everything ready to go before you start stir frying. The second important rule of thumb is that you must carefully choose the order in which you stir fry your vegetables. Some require longer cooking and come require only the barest heat through. What vegetables you use is up to you. For my own taste I consider pineapple to be non-negotiable (and I think canned subs fine). I also love the unexpected crunch of cucumber and explosive burst of grape or cherry tomatoes. I sometimes add broccoli but did not tonight. While certain rules are obvious, don’t let anyone’s “rules” dictate how cooked you want your veggies. For example, a Thai cook would add the onions late, but I always add them early because I do not believe home stoves get hot enough to cook the onions enough and raw onions bug my stomach.

Thai Sweet and Sour with Pork
I have been making and eating this dish for a while now. I made it at a cooking class in Chiang Mai on my honeymoon, which is in northern Thailand. If you make it with only vegetables, it makes a delightful side dish for a more elaborate Thai spread, but I like using some meat and making it a light, simple dinner. It is not usually served spicy, although you could certainly add heat if you wished.


Thai Sweet & Sour Pork With Vegetables

2 T vegetable oil
1 pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, cut into wedges
3 scallions, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (the Thai would uses longer pieces but once again that is too much onion for my stomach)
1 sweet bell pepper, sliced
1 small pineapple, cut into chunks, or equivalent canned
1-2 handfuls grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or left whole, your preference
1 hothouse cucumber, peeled and seeded, sliced into half moon wedges

For the sauce:
juice of 1 lime
3 T fish sauce
1 t soy sauce
1-3 t ketchup, to taste
2-3 T sugar, to taste

First prep all of the meat and veggies and make the sauce. the sauce will be a little on the sweet sauce, balanced by sour and salty. If you are unsure, feel free to add a bit more of something (lime juice for sour, fish sauce for salty, and sugar for sweet) at the very end.

Heat a wok or large skillet on high heat. Pour in the oil and allow it to heat to nearly smoking. Add the garlic and stir fry for about one minute. be sure to keep stirring the garlic–it will become pleasantly aromatic and toasty golden but you do not want it to char. Add the pork and stir fry for 1-3 minutes, until it is no longer pink. From here on out, add and briefly stir fry the ingredients in the order that suits your palette. For example, I like my onions cooked but my bell peppers very crisp. So I add the onion, then the pineapple, then the green onion and pepper, then the sauce, and then last the cucumbers and tomatoes, which I only want to briefly heat through. I would stir fry 30-90 seconds between each ingredient, depending on how long you want it to cook (for example, if you use carrots they may take longer than the peppers).

Serve with jasmine rice.

Filed Under: cucumbers, pineapple, pork, stir fry, Thai dishes, tomatoes

« Have I Inadvertantly Bribed My Children To Enjoy Baking?: Sesame Street M&M Oat Bars
Pumpkin "Vegetarian" Chili »

Comments

  1. noble pig says

    February 1, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    Wow, it’s beautiful! The colors are just awesome..I would love to dive right into this.

    Reply
  2. KJ says

    February 2, 2009 at 2:03 am

    It looks so fresh and inviting. And it sounds delicious. Perfect!

    Reply
  3. MeetaK says

    February 2, 2009 at 3:00 am

    I just love sweet and sour and this really is bursting with flavor. a lovely entry for the mingle – thanks!

    Reply
  4. HoneyB says

    February 2, 2009 at 5:01 am

    This is gorgeous! I love the color in this dish!

    Reply
  5. Joanne says

    February 2, 2009 at 8:37 am

    This looks really great. I love all the colors of the vegetables…you know they say that the more color it has, the healthier the dish is. I’m always looking for healthified versions of fast food dishes so thanks for posting!

    Reply
  6. Grace says

    February 2, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    what a colorful and flavorful dish–me likey! 🙂
    side note–when i was growing up, i refused to eat chicken nuggets of any kind without mcdonald’s sweet and sour sauce. good times. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    February 2, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    Looks fabulous!! I was just thinking of you and your tasty Thai cooking last night…seem to remember a Super Bowl in State College where we came over for curry or something…and didn’t see a minute of the game. Perfect! 😉

    Reply
  8. That Girl says

    February 2, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    I definitely like my sweet and sour without the breading!

    Reply
  9. Ashley says

    February 5, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    This looks really tasty! The colors are gorgeous 🙂

    Reply
  10. Anonymous says

    June 11, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    Your dish looks good, but I don't believe you've really had sweet and sour pork either…in fact well cooked Chinese sweet and sour pork is nothing like what you've described and the dish you've cooked is more similar to good versions of Chinese sweet and sour pork than you may think.

    Reply
  11. Laura says

    June 11, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    Anonymous–sorry if I struck a nerve, but in my experience Chinese American restaurant (I emphasize restaurant) sweet and sour is pretty heavy. And I have never seen it not breaded and deep fried. I'd be the first to guess that what is served in your average American Chinese restaurant is not good sweet and sour pork.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




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

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • North Indian Baked Eggs: Review of Seven Spoons
  • Bengali Mahi Mahi with Mustard Seeds
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Ash-e Anar (Persian Pomegranate Soup with Meatballs)
  • Goan Influenced Goat Stew in the Slow Cooker

Copyright © 2008–2023 The Spiced Life