This page isn't going to feature any additional photos because well, I was cooking... but it's worth it to know how to make this - the soft tender marinated pork and the fresh sweetness of tomato to accompany rice. Winning meal.
Note: This recipe is dated 11th October 2021 as I'll be listing costs.
Here's what you need to feed 2-3 people:
Main stuff:
- 2 Pork shoulder steaks
- Pack of sweet on-the-vine tomatoes
- Half a medium white onion
- Garlic (as many cloves as you like, 3?)
- Ketchup (I'm not joking)
- Sugar
- Rice
- 2 Pork shoulder steaks
- Pack of sweet on-the-vine tomatoes
- Half a medium white onion
- Garlic (as many cloves as you like, 3?)
- Ketchup (I'm not joking)
- Sugar
- Rice
Marinade:
- A very small amount of ginger (your pinky finger nail sized is more than enough)
- Cornflour
- Ground white pepper
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Salt
- Sugar
- A very small amount of ginger (your pinky finger nail sized is more than enough)
- Cornflour
- Ground white pepper
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Salt
- Sugar
Thickening sauce:
- Light soy sauce
- Water
- Cornflour
- Light soy sauce
- Water
- Cornflour
Where's best to buy these things?
I'm going to assume you either already have cornflour, salt, sugar, rice etc. or know where to buy them so I'm skipping them.
The pork shoulder steaks can be bought in supermarkets or butchers, for convenience and value, you should check the butcher counter in Tesco. The pre-packed shoulder steaks are around £5-6 per kg while the same product at the butcher section is £3.85 per kg.
You can buy cheap salad tomatoes but they don't really add any flavour to the dish, only texture. If you can get the sweet on-the-vine tomatoes, you'll be rewarded with rich sweetness that adds way more to the dish. Aldi do a pack for 99p.
With the garlic and ginger, you can get away with garlic granules and ground ginger but as you'll expect, the more purer ingredients will add more flavour.
Let's assume you have everything, let's start prepping.
Tenderise your pork steaks with a tenderising hammer thing. If you don't have one of those, use a rolling pin or worse case scenario, the back of your big knife. It's definitely worth not skipping this step as this will determine the outcome of your meat when it's dished up and ready to eat.
Grate that tiny bit of ginger, add it to a bowl and add a dash of salt, pinch of the ground white pepper, 8-10 tablespoons (that's the big spoon right? I'm measuring with the big spoons btw) of light soy sauce and then 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce. Once you've added all this, add one tablespoon of cornflour - don't heap it, or you'll live the life of regret. Mix all this up well.
Grab your tenderised pork and slice it how you'd imagine you'd slice sashimi: Thin ish, diagonal cuts, if you can. Then add it all into the marinade, mix it up well, then seal it and put it in the fridge. This helps marinate better and keep it in the fridge for at least half an hour. The longer you leave it, the better the meat will absorb the marinade.
Cooking:
Take the pork out the fridge and leave it at room temp for around 10 minutes before cooking. Grab a wok and heat it up on a high flame. Once the wok is nice an hot, add oil and then the pork. Be sure to try and separate the meat in the wok or it'll cook as one huge fat piece. You want to brown both sides so they're about 90% cooked and then scoop them into a bowl to let it rest.
My tip here is to wash the wok before you continue. Chances are, you'll have some burnt scummy bits on the wok now and if you continue using it with everything still stuck on, the sauce will become brown and it might taste a little bit burny.
Chop up your garlic, thinly slice your half onion and quarter your tomatoes.
Wok back on the fire, heat it up and add oil. Throw in your garlic and onion and saute them for a bit, then add your tomatoes. Cook this until the tomatoes start to soften, then add water. How much? I don't know. How ever much you want your sauce to be, add that.
Bring the whole mixture to the boil and then add a sprinkle of sugar and squeeze in ketchup. Yes you read this correctly, we're adding ketchup. The sugars in the ketchup actually help a lot with binding the flavours and textures of this dish. Guess it's about two semi heaped tablespoons? Each to their own, add what you like. Once you've added ketchup, bring the heat down to a medium ish flame.
For the thickening sauce, get a bowl and add one tablespoon of cornflour - don't heap this. Add double the amount of your cornflour in water and add one tablespoon of light soy sauce. Mix this up well.
Your pork will have sweated a little, add all the meat and the sauce that it's sweated out back into the tomato mixture and cook it all for another minute then add the thickening sauce. Once everything is mixed together well, you're ready to serve.
Oh yeah, you've made the rice, right? Again, I'm going to assume you've made rice.
Please tell me you made rice.
TL:DR
1. Tenderise, slice and marindate the meat.
2. Add oil to medium-high fired wok, brown the meat, then transfer it to a bowl.
3. Add oil to wok, cook the onions and garlic then add tomatoes. Soften the tomatoes then add water, sugar and ketcup and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add back the pork, continue to cook for 1 min then add your thickening. Then serve it up with rice.
3. Add oil to wok, cook the onions and garlic then add tomatoes. Soften the tomatoes then add water, sugar and ketcup and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add back the pork, continue to cook for 1 min then add your thickening. Then serve it up with rice.