Sweet and sour sauce with pineapples for the winter is a very useful thing in the household. With it, your meat or poultry dishes will become even tastier, and every lunch and dinner will resemble a festive feast, and not a regular meal. The sauce is stored well, to the delight of the hostess.
Tomatoes 3 kilograms
Onions 1 kilogram
Bell pepper 2 pieces
Pineapples (fresh or canned) 2 pieces
Carrots 3 pieces
Canned corn 1.5 cans
Ground cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon
Curry powder 1 tablespoon
Ground black pepper 1 tablespoon
Sugar 1 cup (or less if you add pineapple syrup)
Vinegar 10% 1 glass
Salt 2 tablespoons
Spicy mustard 2 tablespoons
Starch 2 teaspoons
Step 1: prepare the tomatoes.
Rinse the tomatoes, cut them in half and grate, turning the pulp of the vegetables to the grater. In the end, you will only have skins left in your hands; there is no need to grind them. This way you will grind the pulp, preserving the juice, and peel the tomatoes.
Step 2: prepare the onion.
Peel the onions, rinse with cool water and chop very finely.
Step 3: cook onions and tomatoes.
Add finely chopped onion to the grated tomatoes and cook everything over low heat, stirring very often. You need to cook for 60 minutes.
Step 4: Prepare the pepper.
Wash the bell pepper, remove the seeds and remove the tail. Cut the peppers into medium-sized cubes.
Step 5: prepare the carrots.
Wash and peel the carrots, and then cut the root vegetables into medium-sized cubes (straws).
Step 6: Prepare the pineapples.
Peel fresh pineapples, and simply drain the syrup from canned ones.
Cut the prepared fruit into cubes approximately the same size as the bell pepper cubes.
Step 7: cook sweet and sour sauce with pineapples.
After an hour of cooking the tomatoes and onions, it's time to add the rest of the ingredients.
First the carrots.
Then bell pepper.
Canned corn (don't forget to drain the liquid).
And, of course, pineapples.
Now add all the necessary spices: cayenne pepper, curry, black pepper, sugar, salt, vinegar and hot mustard. Stir everything together and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
Dissolve the starch in a small amount of water and add to the sauce at the end of cooking.
Mix everything well and remove from heat. Place in sterile jars, close the lids tightly and, turning upside down, leave to cool. Then store it in a basement or closet.
Step 8: Serve sweet and sour sauce with pineapples.
Sweet and sour sauce with pineapples is suitable as an addition to your main dishes, and will simply be king on the holiday table. A very interesting and original taste that will be appreciated by both avid gourmets and fans of traditional cuisine.
– You can fill approximately 9 half-liter jars with the sauce prepared from this amount of ingredients.
In sweet and sour sauce, like Peking duck, it is one of the signature dishes of Chinese cuisine. Or rather, this is exactly how it came to the vast expanses of our homeland and was included in restaurant menus. However, in China itself, pork is prepared specifically, and not only in a special sauce, but also with various sweet fruits (tangerines, peaches). According to the canons of local culinary art, this dish should please the palate with three different tastes. Sweetness is achieved by adding honey and fruit. Acid is provided by vinegar, wine, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Finally, the spiciness of the pork is achieved through numerous spices. The secret of the dish lies in the gravy, the preparation of which should be given special attention. The meat is fried just a little and then stewed in sauce. All preparation, despite the exotic nature of the dish, is simple, and even a novice cook can handle it.
Food preparation
For this we will need at least 0.5 kilograms of pork. It is better to take light pink meat from a young animal, without numerous layers of fat. It is advisable that it is not frozen, but only chilled. We wash it and cut it into small cubes across the grain. If the pork has been frozen, it should be brought to room temperature gently, gradually.
The recipe for the dish “Pork with pineapples in sweet and sour sauce” with a photo demonstrates that all ingredients should be cut into equal cubes. This is required by the basic canon of Chinese cuisine. The dish should form a single organic whole, and not a mixture of components. Therefore, we strain the syrup from three hundred grams of canned pineapples, and then cut them into cubes. For cookware, we will need a large cast iron frying pan - it heats up evenly.
What to do for better taste
Pork with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce will be very tender if it is marinated in advance. Then the meat must be fried, but literally for two to three minutes. If the pork becomes covered with an appetizing crust, it will no longer be able to soak in the sauce as thoroughly as the recipe calls for. Therefore, we fry only until the meat turns pale. And we do this in oil, where the pineapples have already been heat-treated. Well, then pour the prepared sauce over the pork and simmer with fruit for about a quarter of an hour. As you can see, the cooking principle is simple. Let's get down to business.
Pork with pineapples in sweet and sour sauce: step-by-step recipe
- Pour the cut meat into pieces with one hundred milliliters of soy sauce. Add a spoonful of premium flour and the same amount of starch.
- Stir until all pieces of pork are coated with this mixture. Let it sit like this for ten minutes.
- During this time, heat quite a lot of vegetable oil in a cast-iron frying pan. When it is hot enough and well-calcined, dump the drained and diced pineapples into it. At first there will be splashes and hissing. So cover the pan for a minute. The fruit should become glazed. We fish them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon.
- Place pieces of marinated pork into the oil, which has been saturated with pineapple juice. Fry for two to three minutes.
- Make the sauce in a separate container. Mix two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with forty grams of sugar. Stir until the crystals dissolve. Dilute with four large spoons of ketchup.
- Pour the sauce into the frying pan over the meat. Add pineapples. Add a little syrup from the jar. Simmer covered for fifteen minutes.
- When the pork with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce is almost ready, add spices: salt, black pepper, ginger.
- Serve in a deep dish, sprinkled with fresh chopped herbs.
Authentic recipe
As already mentioned, in the homeland they prefer to cook it with tangerines or peaches. But Chinese-style pork with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce is also popular. In addition to the two main components (meat and fruit), the authentic dish includes vegetables: one carrot and one sweet pepper, a quarter of a bunch of green onions.
The meat is marinated in a mixture of rice wine and soy sauce. Boil the carrots for three to four minutes and drain in a colander. A raw egg is shaken with three tablespoons of starch. The pork is breaded in this mixture and fried for two to three minutes, after which it is laid out to dry on a paper towel. The sauce is made like this. In an incomplete glass of broth, mix a large spoonful of vinegar, sugar and ketchup. Bring to a boil. Place vegetables in a frying pan and fry. Fill with sauce. Bring to a boil again. They add pork and pineapples. Heat over low heat and remove from the stove.
With added mushrooms
Pork with pineapples in sweet and sour sauce with mushrooms and vegetables is a very spicy dish.
Grate a small piece of ginger and squeeze out the juice. Add a spoonful of soy sauce to it. We keep the pork pieces in this marinade for about half an hour. Then knead the meat with three tablespoons of starch. Fry it in a large amount of oil over high heat. Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, carrots, sweet peppers, and mushrooms. Fry them separately until cooked. Add ketchup, soy sauce, water, sugar and salt to the vegetables. Bring to a boil. We dilute the starch with a small amount of water and pour it into the sauce. Stir until thickened. Remove the pan with vegetables from the heat. Add two tablespoons of vinegar, pineapples and pork. After mixing well, heat, but do not bring to a boil.
Cut the lean pork into large strips and beat them a little. Turn on the unit in the “Frying” mode. Set the timer for 40 minutes. After two minutes, when the bowl is warm, add vegetable oil. After some time, add the meat. Salt, add spices. Fry for a quarter of an hour. Add chopped onion and carrots. After five minutes, squeeze out a clove of garlic through a press. Cut the pepper into strips and add to the vegetables. Mix a spoonful of starch into half a glass of soy sauce, dilute with warm water, and pour into a bowl. After the signal about the end of the program, cover the multicooker and set the first pressure level for a quarter of an hour. Do not rush to remove the lid - let the dish simmer for another five minutes.
Step 1: Prepare the ingredients.
Let's open a can of canned pineapples and divide it as follows - pour the juice into a glass, and divide the pineapples in half. By the way, both rings and pieces will do. We will need 0.5 cups of juice and only half of the pineapples, so you can leave the rest for another dish or simply eat it during the cooking process. From the half of the pineapples we need, we need to make a puree. For these purposes, I used a blender, which I advise you to do.
The lemon should be thoroughly washed, cut off 1/2, and the remaining half should be placed in the refrigerator and used in any other dishes. From the slice that we cut, you need to squeeze out 1 tablespoon of juice. All ingredients are ready, you can start! Step 2: Prepare the pineapple sauce.
To get a richer taste of the sauce, we use butter, which needs to be melted in a frying pan. Then pour in the pineapple and lemon juice, cream, puree, add salt and pepper to taste and mix everything with a spatula. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Be sure to stir the sauce and do not let it burn. Step 3: Serve the prepared pineapple sauce.
Serve the finished sauce warm, in a separate gravy boat, or pour it over a ready-made poultry dish. You can decorate the sauce with slices of whole pineapple and herbs. Its gently creamy and at the same time sweet and sour taste will amaze you, and a chicken or other poultry dish with this sauce will certainly become your favorite. Bon appetit! You can control the nutritional value of a dish by using cream of different fat contents.
You can add chicken broth instead of pineapple juice to add a meaty flavor to the sauce.
You can add seasonings and spices to the sauce other than those indicated, but try not to overwhelm the main taste of the sauce.
Try making this sauce from fresh pineapple, the taste will be different, and maybe you will like it more.
In our country, sweet and sour sauce became famous thanks to the popularization of Chinese cuisine. It gives Chinese dishes a unique aroma, wonderful taste and extreme appetizing. It is quite possible to prepare such a sauce at home; read our article on how to do this.
The sweet and sour sauce is unique - it is at the same time a spicy sourness, a delicate sweet note, and some bitterness, which, combined with each other, give the dishes a unique taste, so loved by many fans of Chinese cuisine. By the way, it is incorrect to attribute this sauce to exclusively Chinese cuisine, since it is widespread in other cuisines of the world - Caucasian, Jewish and Asian in general. In different cuisines it is served with meat dishes, poultry, fish, and vegetable dishes, making their taste surprisingly unusual.
Sweet and sour sauce, when combined with fatty meat, improves its digestion, which is usually difficult for the stomach to cope with.
The two main notes of the sauce - sour and sweet, are obtained by using apple, lemon, orange juice, sour berries for the first and sugar, jam or honey for the second. Often, starch is added to such a sauce to give it a special consistency, which is first diluted with water. In general, there are no particular difficulties in preparing sweet and sour sauce, and no special skills are required for this.
How to make sweet and sour sauce at home
There is far more than one recipe for making sweet and sour sauce: the Chinese version is prepared with some ingredients, the European version with others, and recipes may also vary depending on the dish with which this sauce will be served. We will present different options for preparing this wonderful sauce.
Chinese sweet and sour sauce recipe
You will need: 125 ml of fruit juice (sour), 2-3 cloves of garlic, 1 onion and 5-7 cm long ginger root, 3 tbsp. vegetable oil, 2 tbsp. ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar and water, 1 tbsp each. table vinegar and starch.
How to make Chinese sweet and sour sauce. Finely chop the garlic, onion and ginger root (you can grate it on a fine grater), place in a frying pan with vegetable oil, fry, pour in vinegar, soy sauce, juice, add ketchup and sugar, stir, boil the sauce. Pour starch, previously diluted in water, into the sauce in a thin stream while vigorously stirring, boil the sauce until thickened and remove from heat.
You can make sweet and sour sauce using pineapple and pineapple juice.
Recipe for sweet and sour sauce with pineapple
You will need: 2 pucks of canned pineapple, ½ cup of pineapple juice, ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and sugar, 2 tbsp each. dark soy sauce and ketchup, 1 tbsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. grated ginger root.
How to make sweet and sour sauce with pineapple. Pour soy sauce, vinegar, juice into the pan, add ketchup and sugar, stir. Dissolve starch in water. Bring the mixture in a saucepan to a boil over medium heat, add finely chopped pineapple and ginger, bring to a boil again, add the diluted starch, simmer until thickened and remove the sauce from the stove.
When you're short on time, you can make a quick version of sweet and sour sauce, but you'll need rice vinegar (available in many supermarkets these days).
Quick Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe
You will need: 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 4 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tbsp. tomato ketchup, 2 tsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. soy sauce.
How to make a quick sweet and sour sauce. Mix starch with water until it is completely dissolved. Mix rice vinegar with brown or regular sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, bring to a boil, stirring. Pour starch into the mixture and cook the sauce until thick.
Chicken in sweet and sour sauce can be prepared like this.
Chicken recipe in sweet and sour sauce
You will need: chicken fillet/wings/thighs or other parts, 1 tbsp. liquid honey, soy sauce, lemon juice.
How to cook chicken in sweet and sour sauce. In a small amount of oil, fry the chicken on both sides in a frying pan, pour in soy sauce so that it reaches a third or almost half of the chicken (almost covers it), pour in the juice of half a lemon, add honey, stir and simmer the chicken over low heat, turning over her from time to time. Season the sauce with honey or lemon juice, if desired, after tasting.
For meat, sweet and sour sauce can be prepared using pickles, wine vinegar and cognac.
Recipe for sweet and sour sauce for meat
You will need: 3 tbsp. finely chopped pickled cucumbers, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. cognac, starch and sugar, 1 tsp. tomato paste, ½ tsp. wine vinegar (or table vinegar 6%) and ground ginger.
How to prepare sweet and sour sauce for meat. Fry the cucumbers in a frying pan with hot oil for 5 minutes. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl, gradually pour in 1.5-2 cups of water, stirring, then pour the mixture into the cucumbers, simmer over low heat for 5-7 minutes until the sauce thickens.
You can serve sweet and sour sauce with almost any dish - it all depends on your taste. Having learned to cook it, which, as we have seen, is not at all difficult to do, you will certainly prepare it often for a variety of dishes.