This meal has three elements: Sweet & Sour Pork, Steamed Bok Choy and Jasmine Rice. But don’t panic! I tend to prepare everything ahead so when it comes to the actually cooking I have everything round me.
Recipe for 2 people, approximately 500 calories per person
SWEET & SOUR PORK
Ingredients
- 300g Pork Fillet, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
- 4 tsp rape seed oil
- Half red pepper, sliced
- 75g baby sweetcorn, cut into 1cm pieces
- 1 glove garlic, crushed
- 3 spring onions, diced
- 100g fresh pineapple, diced
- 2 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- 25g cashew nuts
- Water, a splash
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 50ml orange
- 1 tsps honey juice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp five spice powder
What to do
- In a jug mix together the corn flour, rice wine vinegar, half of the orange juice, soy sauce and five spice. Put aside for later.
- Heat half of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the pork over a highish heat until cooked adding the rest of the orange juice towards the end cooking until the pork is nice and sticky.
- Put the pork aside and wipe out the pan.
- Put the pan back on a medium heat and add the rest of the oil.
- Stir fry the pepper, spring onion, garlic, ginger, sweetcorn and chilli for a few minutes.
- Drop in the pineapple and a splash of water, cover with a lid and let it cook for about 3 minutes or until the pineapple is tender.
- Put the meat back in the pan with the cashew nuts and stir in the sauce you put aside earlier.
- Stir gently. The sauce will thicken quickly so make sure it is coating everything and add a bit more water if it looks too thick.
- Check the flavour and add a little more soy sauce, rice wine vinegar or honey if it doesn’t have the tang or balance of flavours you want.
Steamed Bok Choy
- Split the bok choy in half length ways and steam for 5 minutes or until it is soft but still has a little bite.
- Finish with a teaspoon of sesame oil, a splash of soy sauce and some dried chilli flakes or nigella seeds.
Tip / Pointers
- I served this with 50g (dried weight) of jasmine rice for each person.
- Cook the rice before you start the rest and leave covered in a sieve over a little boiling water to keep it warm.
- Finish with some fresh coriander and chopped chilli to add another dimension.
- For less calories cut down on the quantity of meat and rice.
- Use prawns or chicken breasts instead of the pork.