Description
This easy yet indulgent bowl of crispy sweet and sour pork served over egg fried rice is given a seasonal, healthier twist with a homemade rhubarb sweet and sour sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Egg Fried Rice
- 110g (4 oz) Brown Rice
- 2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp Light Oil
- Very Large Handful Frozen Peas or Petits Pois
- 2 Large Spring Onions, sliced
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
For the Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Sauce
- 2 Stalks Forced Rhubarb, cut into 2 cm pieces
- Zest of 1/4 Orange
- Juice of 1 Orange
- 2 tsp Soft Light Brown Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
For the Crispy Pork
- 225g (8 oz) Pork Fillet, thinly sliced
- 1/3 of a cup (eyeball it) Plain (All Purpose Flour)
- Freshly Ground Sea Salt and Black Pepper
- 2/3 cup (again, eyeball it) Panko Breadcrumbs
- Light Oil
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees (390 fahrenheit). Cook the rice as per your packets instructions to make the egg fried rice. Once it has cooked, drain and set aside.
- To make the rhubarb sauce, toss together all the ingredients in a small baking dish; you want it small enough so that the rhubarb fits snugly and so that the orange juice stews the roasting rhubarb, rather than evaporating away. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes while you fry the pork and the rice.
- To prepare the pork, season the flour well with salt and pepper, and dip each slice of pork first in the flour, then the egg you’ve prepared for the egg fried rice, then the panko breadcrumbs. I use one hand for dipping in flour and breadcrumbs, and the other for the egg to avoid bread-crumbing my own fingers!
- Next, make the egg fried rice. Heat 1/2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok or frying pan over a medium high heat until it is shimmering, then add the rest of the egg. Scramble until it is just cooked and broken up into small pieces, then remove from the pan and set aside.
- Heat the other 1/2 tbsp of oil in the pan then add the frozen peas, cooking until warm. Add the rice and fry for a minute, before returning the egg to the pan along with the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Fry until the rice is well coated in the sauce, then set aside to keep warm.
- To fry the pork, cover the base of another large frying pan in about 1/2 cm of cooking oil and allow to heat until shimmering over a medium high heat. You can check if it is ready by dropping in a few breadcrumbs; they should sizzle on contact with the oil. Line a plate with a double layer of kitchen paper.
- Reduce the heat to medium then add the pork slices, you’ll probably have to do this in two batches, flipping after a minute or two once the bottom of the piece has turned golden and crispy, before using tongs to set the cooked pieces aside to drain on the lined plate. Whenever I’m shallow frying, I place the pieces in the pan clockwise so I know what order to flip things in.
- Once everything is ready, slice the pork so all you’ll need to eat your bowlful is a fork or a pair of chopsticks, then serve the slices over the egg fried rice. Remove the rhubarb sauce from the oven, and gently mash it with a fork so that it has a more sauce-like consistency, but there are still a good few chunks of rhubarb in there. Spoon over the pork and the rice.