Under gloomy skies with a walnut tree in the back and a maple in the front of my house, it is almost impossible to take a good photo of our meal by five. I may have to start taking the plate outside or simply give it up on gloomy days. Much of the meals I cooked during the winter did not end up on the blog because it was too dark to take a descent photo. Once again it is promising to be a wet June, looks as if I will have more challenges besides the cooking. I am afraid the photo does not really do justice to this lovely dish, but it will have to do for now.
This is very quick to prepare and with few ingredients. If the pork chops are pounded thin, salted, and then placed in the fridge for the night the dinner can be ready in record time. One alternative is to sauté the chops in a little bit of stock. Just make sure the stock is reduced to almost nothing before adding the rest of the ingredients. Eat it with rice or without. This makes two very large servings, but with rice, it will easily feed four people. This dish has a hint of sweet and sour flavour, but I would not call it a sweet and sour dish either. Serve it promptly. Best is to prepare this just before serving. It will taste the same, but the vegetables will soften if they sit around or if the dish has to be reheated. So eat it while fresh.
HAWAIIAN PORK CHOPS
4 thin, boneless pork chops
3 Tbsp olive oil1 medium onion, chopped
1 read pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 Tbsp finely grated ginger [not ground ginger]
1 can of unsweetened pineapple chunks, fruit and juice used separately
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
• Cut each tenderized pork chop into 3-4 chunks.
• Place 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet.
• Add the chops and cook, turning them over until meat is no longer red. Do not brown the meat. If the pork is tough, add some stock or water and sauté until tender. Simmer until all the stock is reduced, but do not brown.
• Add the chopped onions. Sauté the onions while you prepare the red pepper.
• Wash and chop the red pepper and add to the skillet.
• Continue to sauté, meanwhile grate the ginger and wash and slice the zucchini.
• Add these to the skillet. Continue to sauté.
• Open up the can of pineapple and drain the juice, reserving the juice for use later.
• Add the drained pineapple and continue to sauté.
• Combine reserved pineapple juice with the cornstarch pour it over the contents of the skillet through a fine sieve. [You don’t want chunks or cornstarch floating in the sauce.]
• Season the dish with salt and pepper to taste. [Remember, the pork chops had salt on them already.]
• Bring it to a simmer, cover and remove skillet from the heat.
• Let it rest for two minutes.
• This just gives enough time to serve the rice or warm the plates in the microwave.
• Serve it promptly.
