Sweet and Sour Pork with Coconut Rice

I always thought you had to go to an Asian food restaurant to enjoy Asian food. As it turns out, it can be pretty easy to cook! It may include a few ingredients you don't normally keep in your cupboards, so a trip to the store ahead of time may be in order. However, this recipe is a great way to get your feet wet in the world of Asian cooking, and also to please the family with a great make-ahead meal!


Ingredients:
Coconut Rice:
3/4 c coconut milk
1 1/4 c water
1/4 t salt
2 c jasmine rice

Sauce:
1 (16-18 oz) can pineapple chunks
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T hot chili oil
1/4 c sugar
2 T ketchup
1 T cornstarch

Pork and Veggies:

1 lb pork tenderloin, cubed

1 T cornstarch

1 T soy sauce

2 T sesame oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 T grated ginger
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

Make-Ahead Preparation

• In medium saucepan, bring water, coconut milk, and salt to a boil.  Add rice, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until rice is nearly cooked and liquid is mostly absorbed.  Alternatively, cook rice with water, coconut milk, and salt in a rice cooker.  Whatever method you use to cook the rice, it should be left slightly undercook, as reheating will finish the cooking process.  Once the rice is cooked, let it cool at room temperature, then chill in refrigerator.
• In a bowl, whisk together pineapple juice (reserving pineapples), vinegar, soy sauce (2T), chili oil, sugar, ketchup, and cornstarch (1T).  (Tip: Use a freezer storage bowl, or other freezer storage big enough to add the pork mixture to later, so that you dirty fewer dishes while cooking.)
• In another bowl, combine cornstarch (1T) and soy sauce (1T).  Add pork, and toss to coat.
• In a large saucepan or wok, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat.  Add coated pork and cook for one minute, until pork begins to brown.  (Note: don't cook pork all the way through, otherwise it will be tough after you reheat it.)
• Add onion, garlic, and ginger.  (Tip:  To grate the ginger, freeze it first.  This will make grating so much easier!)  Sautee for three minutes, or until onion is tender.
• Add bell pepper and pineapple.  Sautee for two minutes, or until pepper is slightly tender.
• Add pork mixture to pineapple juice mixture.  Cover and freeze.
• Once the rice is chilled, store in freezer.  Chilling the rice prior to freezing will help it be less mushy when it is reheated.

To Serve:

• Keep rice frozen until ready to use.  Heat rice in microwave, covered, but not sealed.
• Thaw sauce prior to heating.  Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add sauce.  Heat sauce, stirring occasionally, until hot, and until pork is cooked through.
• Serve sauce on top of rice.  Garnish with green onion, and, if desired, crushed red pepper.

The amount of chili oil in this recipe will make for a medium-spiced dish, about two stars out of four.  For more spice (3 stars), add up to 2T more chili oil; if that is not enough spice, substitute hot sriracha.  For less spice, add less chili oil, or omit the chili oil all together.

Quick Meal Preparation:
This meal also makes a great quick meal for when you need something now, but haven't had a chance to make it ahead!  Simply make the following substitutions:

• 1/2 onion = 1 cup frozen chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic = 4t bottled minced garlic
• 1T ginger = 1t bottled minced ginger
• bell peppers = 1 bag (about 2 cups) frozen pepper strips

Then, cook the pork and rice all the way instead of freezing them.  All other directions are the same.

This meal is a great one-dish dinner, and all of the different colored vegetables in it provide a wealth of vitamins and nutrients!