Sweet and Sour Pork
adapted from Apples and Twinkies
This recipe was a total home run in our house. Even my picky eater came back for seconds. I sent it in the kids’ thermoses today and my husband came home for lunch just to be sure to get some of the leftovers. The recipe only calls for 1 lb of pork tenderloin. The smallest one I could find at the store was 2 lb, so I doubled the recipe. We had tons of left-overs. Not a bad thing in our house š
Sweet and Sour Pork
Author: Cooking up a Project
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Pork
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar, divided
- ½ tsp Kosher salt, plus a pinch
- 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp sugar, plus a pinch
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 carrots, cut in about ¼ inch rounds
- 3 green onions, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 3 cups snow peas, cut in half
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil, divided
Instructions
- Toss pork with 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt in a bowl; set aside.
- Mix 2½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, ketchup, 3 Tbsp sugar, water, ½ tsp salt in a separate bowl.
- Heat 2 Tbsp sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.
- Add the pork and cook until it is mostly opaque, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove pork with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate; keep warm.
- Discard remaining oil and wipe out the skillet.
- Heat the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil in the skillet, then stir-fry the garlic with a pinch each of salt and sugar for about 15 seconds.
- Add the carrots and green onions and stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the pork, snow peas and soy sauce mixture; stir until the pork is cooked through and the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
Tips
- Next time pork tenderloin goes on sale, I will be buying several. I will cut it into 1 inch pieces and package and freeze them 1 pound per bag. That way I will be ready to make this recipe whenever the mood strikes.
Update
- I made this recipe into a freezer meal. I made the sauce and put it in a small ziplock bag. I cut up the pork and mixed it with the vinegar and salt and placed it in a quart size freezer bag. I cut up the vegetables and put them in a gallon size ziplock bag. I added the bag of sauce and meat into the gallon size bag and froze the complete meal. When I want to use it, I defrost the meal in the refrigerator overnight and then cook as normal.