With the belief that this tangy balsamic vinegar sauce shall go well with most types of meats, I tweak the original recipe by using cubed pork chops than duck breasts. I love eating Peking roasted ducks, but sadly I have not enjoyed eating any other types of ducks, be they of Chinese or other styles. Poor hubby therefore has never had any home-cooked ducks!
Cubing than slicing the pork chops because I want them to taste meaty while having more surfaces to take up the sauce. Instead of using tenderizer, I marinade the pork with ginger juice to help improve the tenderness of the meat. For me, this will be a good dish only if I can lock the juiciness in the meat after cooked. That is why I add corn starch to the pork to coat it right before frying.
Though not as easily fall-apart as braised, the pork is fork-tender, juicy and with a sweet and sour flavor as a whole. I’m happy that I had not put off by the duck breast highlighted in the recipe, and resisted the attempt to trash the wrinkled leaflet* caused by my mishandling.
*free from DCH Food Mart Deluxe
- Ingredients
- 2 pork chops, ~100g each
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- juice from 1 medium-sized orange
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Marinades for pork chops
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp orange juice
- 1/4 tsp Shaoxing (yellow) wine
- juice from 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
Method
Rinse pork chops; pat them dry thoroughly and cut into cubes of about 1.5cm. Also rinse bell peppers, and cut into size similar to cubed pork. Drain dry.
Marinade (except corn starch) pork for 1 to 2 hours.
Right before stir-frying, mix corn starch into pork.
Heat about 1 1/2 tablespoon oil in wok over medium heat. When heated, sauté garlic and coarse black pepper till fragrant. Put in pork cubes and stir fry till almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Dish up.
Add in remaining half tablespoon of oil and toss in chopped red and yellow peppers. Stir fry for about a minute, then sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and stir well.
Mix well sauce and add it to bell peppers. Stir constantly; when the sauce is reduced by half, return pork to wok. Assemble well and simmer for another 1 minute or till the sauce is coated to the meat. Add salt to taste.
The original recipe suggests the duck breasts as an appetizer. I served my stir-fried pork cubes hot as one of my main dishes with rice. Enjoy yours!
Note
An easier way to make sure the meat cubes are evenly fried is to prepare them by deep-frying than stir-frying. But you will need a larger amount of oil to fry the pork (at least half a cup of oil for this case) and to drain the excess oil after cooked. When deep-frying the meat, cook it over low-medium heat for about half a minute or till it is about 90 percent done.
- Category: Pork .
- 25 comments
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This looks really delicious and healthy too!
I always use balsamic vinegar for western dishes, what a great idea to incorporate it into Asian cooking. It looks very yummy ^^
Wow great fusion recipe, and the colour looks soo tempting!
Tenderise meat with ginger juice? I have to try that next time!
Good tip on the cooking of the pork! Will hv to try this next time.
Do you think I can add Zhejiang black vinegar instead of balsamic? Of course, one is the rough guy while the latter is delicate.
Never tried cooking pork with balsamic vinegar but this sounds so yummy!! I hardly cook duck at home too 🙂
@tigerfish,
I do cook meat with Zhejiang aka Chekiang vinegar. But this rice-made vinegar shall give a different dimension to the dish than the balsamic.
As you said, balsamic is delicate. And good balsamic should even come with its own distinctive character. I like the complex fruity flavor in this dish, therefore I’m afraid I would not recommend replacement.
Thanks. Indeed, balsamic is so delicate and “pure”: I enjoy balsamic infused in extra-virgin olive oil and such a good dip for freshly baked breads. 🙂
I love vinegar. And balsamic too. Love them with strawberries (as dessert).
Oooh…I love balsamic vinegar…great as a dip, especially for dumplings. Have not tried it in cooking. Must be delicious especially with orange. Love it. Will eat more rice 😀
Just the name of the sauce was enough to make me drool. And the picture did the rest. I gotta visit my local shop to get few ingredients.I have never cooked duck before so I might try it with ductk.
My family and I love Chinese food. This looks like a dish that I’ll have to make so that we can all enjoy it.
Delicious! I love the sound of balsamic vinegar and orange sauce!
I had some balsamic chicken before…I like yours more with bell peppers, which offer many beneficial properties and more delightful!
@Angie,
Thank you for your kind words! Your balsamic chicken is delightfully original, mine here is a copycat : ).
There is something about this dish that looks so fun and cheerful. Love the orange sauce, sounds amazing 🙂
Hope you are having a great weekend.
*kisses* HH
Hmm…I have never cooked with balsamic vinegar… I always use them cold, usually on dressing – especially afraid to heat it up especially when the premium grades, like olive oil, can be so expensive… Interesting east meet west…
@shriley,
You’ve got a good point. Like using red wine, let’s save the expensive balsamic vinegar for dressing/drizzling, and cook with the average ones.
Delicious! I love the taste of balsamic vinegar mixed with something sweet on my meat! Yummy! One question – how do I get ginger juice? Do you buy that or is it something you can create at home?
@Patty,
I did it with a grater, and squeezed the grated ginger through a small sieve to get the juice. You may click here to see a picture showing the steps. Enjoy!
Great looking dish! Thou I don’t eat pork, I’m sure this will be good for chicken as well
Yummy! Thanks for the recipe. My family would love this.
Enjoy!
This dish is amazing and so easy to cook! I just made it myself and it tasted great. Thanks for the recipe!
@slaninka,
Yes, this is a simple yet delicious and refreshing dish. I can sense that you have enjoyed cooking this dish no less than me, and this a good news to me. Thanks for advising!