Spicy Szechuan Garlic Pepper Pork Stir Fry

This delicious garlic pepper pork stir fry has all the flavor of your favorite take away pork stir fry.  But made in your kitchen, with love in 25 minutes.  Why go out?

Can we say sweet?  Can we say spicy?   What a great combination!

I don’t normally care for spicy dishes but when you quiet the flames a bit with some sweetness, it’s yes please, I’ll have some! 

No need for takeaway with this delicious garlic pepper pork stir fry

I like takeaway as much as the next person, but the sauces sometimes seem sickly sweet to me.  

Making this dish at home allows me to give it all the flavor of take out stir fry, but I get to tinker a bit with a sauce to make it more to my liking. 

And I promise you, if you like spicy Asian foods, you will LOVE this dish as much, and probably more, than any old take out stir fry. 

When I am busy, which seems to be 24/7 lately, one of my favorite go-to meals for dinner on the table in a hurry is a stir fry.  I love that I don’t have to plan.

I can go to my crisper drawer and take out whatever might be lurking in there and put it all together for a great tasting meal. 

But this time, it just so happens that I went shopping yesterday with this dish in mind, so I got to choose my favorites.

But if you don’t like my choice of veggies…no problem…just use whatever you have on hand.

COLOR.  That’s what I’m talking about.  I love a dish that tempts my eyes before it tempts my stomach.  Aw heck. What am I saying?  It always tempts my stomach.  I’m just that kind of girl. 

But I do love a pretty dish, and what is not to like about this combination of goodness and food bling?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret here.  I took a short cut.  Those of you who read my blog probably aren’t surprised by this.  I kind of like short cuts in my cooking (being busy 24/7 and all…)

I didn’t want to spend a long time marinating my pork to give it some great flavor so I picked up a pork fillet that is marinated with peppercorns and garlic.

This baby is going to take a big step out of my cooking time tonight!  I always use both cracked peppercorns and garlic in my stir fries and I won’t even need to add it this time! 

Take note though…this is kind of a spicy dish with all the peppercorns….sort of a party in your mouth kind of thing.  If you like less spicy Asian food, try the teriyaki marinated pork fillet instead.

That works well in this recipe too and will be more in line with the tamer tastes of those who like savory Asian food.  For us, for tonight…it’s time for some heat!

I whipped up the the sauce mixture first so it would be ready when everything was cooked. All I had to do with the pork was to slice it in half and then into long slices and cook in some peanut oil. 

The aroma in my kitchen right about now makes me sort of giddy (and thankful that I am busy all the time and need to make quick meals!) 

Once it is done, it just sits on a platter for a few minutes to release some of the delicious juices that we will add back to the skillet. 

If I don’t eat it first.  I could blame it on the dog, right?  I mean who could resist just a taste of this before going any further with the recipe?

The veggies get cooked next.  I like Asian stir fries when the vegetables still have a bit of crunch to them. 

They seem to keep the color and the dish just looks right if they aren’t all soggy and over cooked.  

So a few minutes is all they need.  All that healthy goodness!  When was the last time you saw this sort of color in take away Chinese food?

Add the pineapple chunks, baby corn and then the pork back into the dish and stir in the sauce mixture and cook until everything is well combined and aroma makingly delicious looking. 

I served this tonight with some rice noodles.   They soak up the sauce so well and I can dump everything into the one pot. 

This makes it easy to get it all on the plate with everything already combined.

Rice noodles are very easy to prepare too.  Just soak them in hot water, and then add them to the stir fry.

There is just something about the noodles swimming in a spicy stir fry sauce that warms my heart as well as my tongue. 

And as a special treat for my husband I made his favorite rice paper spring rolls.  They are super light and went perfectly with the stir fry.

I made them early and put them in the fridge. The cold temperature of them offset the heat of the dish nicely.

Now, the biggest question is this:  Chop sticks or forks? 

I always tell myself I am going to manage to eat it all the way through with the chop sticks, but that aroma eventually gets to me.  Sooooo… BOTH it is…just in case!This dish is just scrumptious.  It’s full of flavor and has lots of spice, but that gets tempered a bit with the sweetness of the pineapple juice and rice vinegar.   

And so healthy with all those al dente veggies.   My kind of dinner.

Which is your favorite marinated pork flavor?  Share with us in the comments below!

Yield: 4

Sweet and Sour Pork Stir Fry

Print

This Szechuan garlic pepper pork stir fry will bring you all the flavors of take out Chinese food but ready in about 25 minutes in your own kitchen. It is spicy and sweet and full of flavor.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 can (14 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained (reserve the juice)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp peanut oil
• 1 medium onion, cut into strips
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
• 1 Smithfield peppercorn and garlic marinated pork tenderloin, cut in half and then thinly sliced
• 1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 sweet peppers, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 cup of fresh broccoli florets
• Can of baby corn
• 8 ounces of Rice Noodles

Instructions

1. Soak your rice noodles in very hot water for 25 minutes.
2. While they are soaking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup water.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil over medium-high heat.
4. Cook the pork, in two batches, until well browned.
5. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
6. Add the sliced onion, ginger, celery and sweet peppers.
7. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender with a bit of crispness still, about 5 minutes.
8. Stir in the broccoli and mushrooms and cook another couple of minutes.
9. Add the pork with its juices, and pineapple chunks. Whisk the sauce and add it to the skillet.
10. Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring, until everything is warmed through, about 2 to 4 minutes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 534mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 5gSugar: 13gProtein: 10g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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