Sweet and Spicy Pork Stir Fried With Mango is fast, easy and delicious–and just unexpected enough to be a great meal for entertaining. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing. I updated these photos in December 2016–although unfortunately with no natural light. Still, I think they are a vast improvement!
Wow I was on a roll there… and then for just one night I did not have a recipe to write about—and I fell off the promptness wagon completely! But I can tell I am about to backlog again, so I figured I better hurry up and share this one.
Original photo–showing that when I started blogging I thought using a flash indoors was acceptable and even necessary. Wow have I learned a lot!
This Cuban stir fry has become a standby ever since I discovered it a few years back. It is from Three Guys from Miami Cook Cuban
, which is where I first learned about the Chinese influence in Cuban cooking—who knew? I mean, it makes sense—we aren’t the only melting pot in the world—but it still kind of threw me for a moment.
It shouldn’t have—it makes sense and the flavors are outstanding together. And always a crowd pleaser.
[Update December 2016: I used to make this dish all the time–but then I started blogging and became obsessed with always pushing the envelope for new and interesting meals. There is nothing wrong with that, but I suddenly realized my kids had no memory of this dish, and that was a shame because it is delicious! I am so glad I pulled this recipe out–it deserves to be made regularly.]
- 1 pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized chunks
- Vegetable oil to preference and to pan (I used about 2 T with stainless steel; be sure to use some to lower the smoke point of the butter)
- 2 T butter
- 2-3 mangoes (3 if you LOVE mango like us, 2 otherwise), diced* (or use the equivalent frozen, making this even easier)
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ t ground cumin
- 1 ½ t ground ginger
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red chile pepper flakes to taste
- ¼ cup (heaping and packed) brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and butter and let it heat, then add the onions.
- Let the onions cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and the pork and cook, stirring, until the pork browns.
- Turn the heat down and add the spices. Stir to toast briefly.
- Then add the brown sugar and mango, a pinch of salt and the red chile pepper flakes. Cover and cook on medium low for 5-10 minutes, until pork is cooked through and the dish is quite saucy.
- When done, uncover and add the cilantro and cook briefly. Taste for salt and pepper.
- Serve with fluffy long grain rice; I use Basmati or Texmati.
*I learned a great new method last summer for dicing mango. I can’t believe
I ever took the time to try to peel the suckers! Just slice “halves” of them away from the core (the core is somewhat flattened, so on 2 sides you will be able to
slice a fairly thick piece; the other 2 sides are smaller but the method will still work). Then slice into the half in a grid pattern, flip them inside out, and slice the chunks away. I am not sure I explained that well, so hopefully the pictures will explain it!
That definitely is the best method for “chopping” mango. I also more or less do the same thing for avocado (except I skip the part where you flip the skin and just use a spoon to pull the flesh out).
I think I would prefer this dish with pineapple- would that work? Mango is usually way too sweet for me (which reminds me, I have some mango popsicles in my freezer I need to give to you/John/Alex).
Well I have more than 1 response to that: I could kinda see pineapple working with this, so go for it. But you could also try reducing the brown sugar (although the dish may not be as saucy). Also, I feel like this is one of those cases where the result is more than the sum of its parts, you know? It makes its own unique flavor so part of me wants to just really encourage you to try making it once unless you really dislike mango. 🙂
Next time you are in New York, remind me and we’ll go out for Cuban-Chinese. There is also an outstanding Peruvian-Chinese restaurant that we know. YUM!
Ah, Amy the days of interesting restaurants instead of making everything myself. 🙂 I am drooling with jealousy–yes we will definitely go when I am there next.