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Sweet and Sour Sesame Pork

Submitted by adriana on Sun, 17/01/2010 - 23:48
Another Gluten-free cooking for kids recipe

With the Chinese New Year celebrations just around the corner, I thought this recipe might come in handy.

The inspiration came from a cookbook called Chinese Food Made Easy by Ching- He Huang .  The original recipe was for sweet and sour pork using tinned pineapple.  I realised that I had none of the required ingredients with the exception of the pork loin but decided to go for it anyway and improvised as best I could with what was available in the pantry.   What I discovered is that this is a great way to cook pork loin steaks and I suspect you could also use chicken or fish fillets. The coating is crisp and very flavourful.  The sauce is yummy and even Lucia who loves to torment me by saying "No like dat!" licked her plate clean.  Now that really is an endorsement.

Yield

Serves 2 or 3

Preparation time

30 minutes

Ingredients

4 small pork loin steaks
3 tbs sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt
a good pinch of white pepper
Ground nut oil or similar
1 tin (about 400g) dark cherries, drained
125ml apple/raspberry juice or something similar
2 tbs tamarind pulp
1 star anise pod
1 tbs dark brown sugar
1/2 vanilla pod
1 chunk of fresh ginger, (about 1 inch) peeled and bruised
Juice of 1 lime
A spoonful of cherry conserve (optional)

Directions

To make the sesame pork

Dry the meat off with paper towels, ensuring there is no residual moisture.  Place the sesame seeds and salt in a mortar and pestle and lightly pound them.  You don't need anything like a paste, just enough to crack open some of the seeds to release the flavour and aroma.  Add the white pepper and mix with a spoon.  Place this mixture on a board and then press the pork loin steaks into the lightly smashed sesame seeds.  Make sure you coat both sides well and then proceed with the rest of the meat in the same way.  You can do this ahead of time and leave the steaks in the fridge, covered, until you are ready to use them.

To cook the steaks

Preheat oven to 200 C.   Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a medium sized frying pan.  Wait until the oil is very hot (almost smoking) and then add the steaks.  Brown them evenly on both sides until the steaks are lightly golden.  Put them on a baking sheet .  15 minutes before sitting down to eat, place your steaks in the hot oven.  Bake for a further 5- 10 minutes.  The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the steaks.  Leave the steaks to rest out of the oven at least 5 minutes, before slicing.  To serve, slice the steaks thinly.

To make the sweet and sour cherry sauce

Place the drained tinned cherries and the juice in a blender.  Whizz until smooth.  Transfer this to a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a slow simmer.  Add all the other ingredients and stir occasionally.  Continue to simmer the sauce until it reduces by about 1/2 the original amount.  The sauce should be thick and syrupy.  Taste and adjust accordingly.  The sauce should be sweet and tangy.  You can make the sauce up to 3 days ahead.  Serve the sauce either slightly warm or at room temperature. 

 

Notes

Serve this with stir fried vegetables or steamed cabbage and a bowl of white sticky rice.