Stir-fried pork with sweet pineapple and vegetables

By: Luke Nguyen
From: The Food of Vietnam
Serves: 4-6
Photographer: Alan Benson

This recipe belongs to Hai, a young gentleman who showed me how to speak ‘duck’. Hai raises 200 ducks and has to feed them five times a day. When it is feeding time, he simply calls out ‘here kiddy kiddy kiddy, arrgh, arrgh, arrgh’, then they all appear from the surrounding rice paddy fields for their feed. Quite incredible to watch. Here is his delicious pork recipe.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
1 tablespoon	sugar
2 tablespoons	fish sauce
300g	pork neck, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon	freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons	vegetable oil
2	garlic cloves, diced
2	red asian shallots, diced
1/2	red capsicum, thinly sliced lengthways
1	tomato, quartered
100g	sweet pineapple, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1	onion, sliced into wedges
4	spring onions, cut into 4 cm lengths
1/2 bunch	asian celery, washed and cut into 4 cm lengths
	coriander sprigs, to garnish
	light soy sauce, for dipping
	sliced red chilli, to serve

Sauce

Quantity	Ingredient
2 tablespoons	sugar
1 tablespoon	white vinegar
2 teaspoons	tomato sauce
1 tablespoon	lemon juice
1 teaspoon	cornflour, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

Method

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well to dissolve the sugar and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the sugar and fish sauce and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pork and pepper, then toss to coat the pork with the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Heat a wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, followed by the garlic and pork and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the wok, then add the shallot, capsicum, tomato and pineapple and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Return the pork to the wok. Pour in the prepared sauce and stir. Now add the onion, spring onion and celery and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
Garnish with coriander. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and a side dipping sauce of light soy sauce and sliced red chilli.