Pork and Pineapple Stir Fry

This is a fairly simple meal that cooks very quickly, but does have quite a bit of preparation.  Stir frying is done in a wok (if you don't have a wok a large frying pan will do, preferably with a nonstick surface) at high heat.  The food is constantly stirred because if it isn't moving, the heat will cause it to burn.  When I use the wok I always use a wooden spoon for the stirring.  At high temperatures some plastics can melt, and metal utensils can scratch the nonstick coating, so the wooden spoon seems like the best choice.


This meal is served with rice, and I will include a separate entry on how to cook that.  I find that rice is actually one of the easiest things to cook, and I will try to ensure that my instructions are succinct enough that anyone who follows them will have perfect results every time.


There are two steps to making this recipe; the first is to make a soy mixture that will be used to coat the finished product.  The second is to create and cook the stir fry itself.  We'll start with the soy mixture which looks like this before it is made:

Starting at the top and moving clockwise we have, a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained with the juice reserved (it should have been chunk pineapple, but I grabbed the wrong can at the market), the reserved juice from the can of pineapple, three tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (both are in one bowl), three tablespoons of soy sauce and 1/2 cup of hot water.  


Combine the water, soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes, corn starch, brown sugar and two tablespoons of the pineapple juice in a small bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  The remainder of the pineapple juice can be discarded, but save the pineapple.


Now for the stir fry.  Stir fry is nothing more than meat and vegetables (or just vegetables, if you prefer) in a sauce and served with rice.  The sauce is already done, so now it's time to prepare the rest.  I used the following:

This time, we'll start at the bottom and continue clockwise.  The large yellow bowl contains 1 1/2 pounds of pork.  You can buy a cut of pork and cut it yourself, or you can buy it already cut at the market.  If you buy it already prepared, you won't necessarily know what cut of meat you're getting, just that it's pork.  If you buy it whole and cut it yourself, you can buy a better cut of meat.  Just make sure that you cut it into bite size strips.  They should be longer than they are wide to ensure that they cook properly.


Following clockwise we have red bell peppers cut into strips, sugar snap peas (in their pods), the soy sauce mixture from the first step, the pineapple from the first step, onions cut into half slices (cut an onion in half, and then slice it), carrots sliced thinly, broccoli crowns cut up and one tablespoon of brown sugar.  How much of each vegetable you use is up to you, but I used half an onion, half of a large red pepper, one stalk of broccoli, about a cup of peas and one large carrot, plus the 20 oz. of pineapple.  My finished product would probably serve about six people.


It is imperative that you have all of the ingredients laid out before you begin.  Everything must be cut to bite size before you start cooking.  Think of having dinner in a Chinese restaurant where you eat with chop sticks.  Nothing is so big that it needs to be cut before you can eat it.  That's how your ingredients must be before you start cooking.  The wok is cooking with such high heat that you won't have time to prepare vegetables once the food starts cooking, so it all must be done in advance.


Spray the wok with nonstick cooking spray and place it on high heat.  You will use high heat for the remainder of this recipe, so keep your wooden spoon at hand.  Also, the nonstick spray is oil based, so it replaces oil in this recipe.  If you would prefer to use oil, use about one or two tablespoons of peanut oil.  When the wok is hot, put in the pineapple with the brown sugar and stir and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the stove and place the pineapple into a large bowl, then spray the wok again and return it to the heat.  Add the pork when the pan is hot again and cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook and stir for 3 minutes.


Add the peas and broccoli and cook and stir for 3 minutes.  At this point your dish will look like this.

Add the red peppers and onions and cook and stir for 2 minutes longer.  Now add the pineapple back in and stir in the soy mixture.  Stir thoroughly and cook for another 3 minutes, until meat and vegetables are entirely coated with the soy mixture.  Immediately remove from the heat and serve.


Your finished meal (with the rice) will look like this:

The stir fry should be served over rice, but I put it alongside just for the picture.  The vegetables you use are up to you, but remember that thicker vegetables (like carrots) will take longer to cook so they should be cut thin and cooked first.  Add vegetables in the order of the amount of time it will take for them to cook.  Also, you're using high heat so the cooking time will be much shorter than usual.


Bon appetit!