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Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

April 04, 2024

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We love Chinese food. And, living in the South, good Chinese food (like good Mexican food) is hard to come by. Don’t get me wrong, there’s good food here; the South isn’t known for awesome food for nothing. The ethnic scope of it is just limited.

I wouldn’t say this is Chinese so much as it is “Asian-Inspired.” I got this recipe from Cooking Light a few years ago and it’s been a staple at our house ever since. And just so you know, Cooking Light doesn’t mean Cooking Gross. I would say (and I know Sara agrees with me) that some of the best recipes that I have come from Cooking Light. It’s more like Cooking Lighter.

Ingredient Notes

Don’t be scared of all the ingredients. Yeah, there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, but the vast majority of them are probably already in your pantry.

Pork – Por tenderloin, pork loin, or pork chops will all work. They key is slicing the pork nice and thin. to get your pork super thin, you’ll need to partially freeze it. When it’s semi-frozen (or mostly-frozen), you can either cut it very thinly with a sharp knife or pop it into your food processor fitted with the slicing blade. It’s like magic.
Cooking Sherry – You can find this by the condiments in your grocery store. It’s basically a very wine that is unfit for drinking and designed for cooking, so you don’t need to be 21 to buy it. Apple juice makes a great substitute.
Snow Peas – These are the large, flat peas you find in Asian stir-fry dishes. Feel free to sub snap peas if you’d like. Little baby snow peas are very tender and don’t need to be trimmed, but you’ll probably have some bigger ones in there. Just snap the corners off and then tug a little to get the tough string that goes along the side of the snow pea.

Instructions

Freeze some pork for a bit to firm it up, then slice nice and thin.
If you’re serving this sweet and sour pork with rice, begin cooking that so it’s ready when the pork is.
Combine a little cornstarch, sherry, and pork. Toss well.

Combine some additional cornstarch, water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup. Stir with a whisk; make sure there are no clumps with the cornstarch. Set aside.
Now collect everything that’s going into the stir fry next to the stove so you can access it easily. Once you start stir frying, things move fast!

Heat a couple of tablespoons of canola oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add pork and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add some onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fry 1 minute.

Add snow peas and pineapple. Stir-fry 3 minutes more. Whisk sauce ingredients again and add to pan. Bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Stir in cashews and serve over hot rice. Garnish with more cashews and green onions if you want. Bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in cashews and serve over hot rice. Garnish with more cashews and green onions if you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this ahead of time? While probably at its best hot off the stove, this pork should reheat rather well if you’d like to make it one day and reheat the leftovers. If you’re running short on time you can definitely prep your sauce and veggies, slice your pork, and even cook your rice ahead of time. It’s probably best to toss your pork with sherry and cornstarch right before cooking.

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