Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple

Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple combines two complimentary ingredients in the hot and sour flavors of Thailand’s famous Tom Yum Soup.

A while ago, I reviewed the commercially prepared Jack Hua Brand Sour Shrimp Paste from Thailand. The culinary paste is primarily intended for making the perennial Thai restaurant favorite Tom Yum Soup, but I rarely use it that way and instead find it useful as a base for curries, or stir-fried dishes. Here, I have used the paste along with Pork and Pineapple in order to make a dish that is both sweet, sour, and pungent with the flavorings associated with a Thai Yellow Curry.

The Basic Method

Deep-frying meat before using it in stir-fried dishes is a common technique in Chinese and South-East Asian cookery. It allows the meat to caramelize slightly and develop additional flavor while remaining tender at the center, and it helps reduce the final cooking time. Here, the meat is first seasoned lightly and coated with flour before being quickly fried in a cup or so of oil over moderately high heat.

Frying pineapple before using it in this type of dish is a little unorthodox, but, as with the meat, the slight browning adds an additional flavor dimension. The pineapple, like the meat, also gets tossed in flour before frying, which gives it a slight crust.

Sweet Red Pepper is the only other major ingredient in this recipe. The pieces get quickly fried along with the spice paste and a little sugar. This brand of Tom Yum Paste has only a little chili in it so, if you want this to be a more fiery dish, you may wish to add another chili source, such as a Sambal Oelek.

The final step requires only that the pork and pineapple are added and cooked long enough to be heated through. It needs to be served immediately and will go well with any rice or noodle accompaniment.

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Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple

Thai-Style Pork with Pineapple combines two naturally complimentary ingredients in the hot and sour flavours of Thailand’s famous Tom Yum Soup.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: Chili Paste, Curry, Hot, Pineapple, Pork, Sour

Author: John Thompson

Ingredients

• ½ lb. Pork Tenderloin sliced crosswise into bite-size pieces;
• 1 – 1 ½ cups fresh Pineapple pieces cut about the same size as the Pork;
• 1 Red Bell Pepper cut into chunks;
• ½ cup Flour;
• 2 ½ tbsp. Sugar;
• 1 ½ tbsp. Tom Yum Soup Paste;
• Salt and Pepper.

Instructions

• Season the pork slices with salt and pepper and then dredge them in the flour, shaking off any excess.
• Heat a cup of oil in your wok over moderate heat and quickly fry the pork, removing the pieces to a bowl after draining.
• Toss the pineapple chunks with a teaspoon of the sugar, coat in flour, and fry in the hot oil until just barely beginning to brown. Remove to a bowl separate from the pork.
• Drain all but two Tablespoons of oil from the wok and quickly fry the red pepper pieces until softened.
• Add in the sugar and Tom Yum Paste and, as soon as the aroma rises, add back the pork and the pineapple.
• Continue to fry and stir until all is heated through and plate for immediate service, garnishing with sliced scallion if desired.