Pork Saigon

“Try this recipe which I’ve learned from cooking demo in Bali. And I’ll show you the perfect way to prevent heating butter on stove”

It has been more than a week from my last post. I apologise with no further excuse (busy at work really~).

This dish was learned during my last holiday to Bali. One of the activities from the resort was cooking demonstration. And this was the dish they showed. Actually, they cooked this with beef, but due to personal diet restriction, I used pork slices instead.

I liked this dish for it’s sweetness with a hint of refreshing sourish flavour, it resembles the taste of sweet & sour pork dish, but this Pork Saigon tastes more delicate as the texture of the pork meat here was tender and not deep fried.

Choose steamed rice to go along with this dish. For healthier and more refreshing bites, eat it with wraps of fresh lettuce leafs. Simply scoop over 1 tablespoon of pork dish on a large lettuce leaf. Wrap and roll it up! Lettuce adds crunch to the biting and it does make a great accompaniment with Pork Saigon.

1 medium onion, diced
1 capsicum, diced (and blanched, if do not like it too crunchy)
1 carrot, diced and blanched
1 clove of garlic, chopped

40 grams of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Seasoning for pork slices:
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
Pinch of coarsely grounded black pepper
½ teaspoon of corn starch

Ingredients for Saigon Sauce:
1 teaspoon of chicken granule
1 tablespoon of Lea’s & Perrin’s Sauce
4 tablespoons of ketchup/ tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of chili sauce
½ teaspoon of freshly squeezed lime juice from ½ lime
1 – 2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of peanut oil (or any other cooking oil of your choice)
Pinch of salt

Optional: Large lettuce leafs (as decorative base on the serving dish or as wraps)

Method
1) Season pork slices with the listed seasoning, for at least 20 minutes. Set aside.

2) Combine the listed ingredients for Saigon Sauce into a bowl. Mix well. Set aside.

3) Heat wok with olive oil over high heat. Then, reduce heat to medium fire, followed by melting of butter in wok. Add in garlic and stir fry till fragrant. Add in seasoned pork slices, and increase heat for quick frying, for 10 seconds. Reduce heat again, and add in blanched carrots, capsicum and onion dices. Stir fry for a minute.

4) Stir in Saigon Sauce mixture to combine well with all the ingredients. Heat off and dish up on x-large lettuce leaf on a serving dish. Serve with steamed rice or lettuce leafs.

A palm-sized portion of my Pork Saigon counts about 250kcal.

Variations: Use the beef, if desired. Replace carrot with spring onion (scallion) to save the blanching step.

Tips: Do not over-cook the pork slices in order to retain its tenderness and moisture. These pork slices have to be very thinly sliced to maximize its tenderness. So, get the butcher to slice it professionally for you, or get the pre-packed frozen pork slices from supermarkets (in frozen compartment. Cut into bite size as the slices usually come in large pieces in this pre-pack).
* Blanch the carrots beforehand as you won’t have enough time to cook it till totally tender in the wok. However, carrots and capsicumsq were not in its original recipe. I added it to create a more balanced diet. Hence, you may omit these to save some effort, if desired. Try to replace the omission with spring onion which to be added only very last minute before heat off. That way, you’ll still get more greens than none in the dish. (May also change green capsicum to red one, if use spring onion which is already in green).
** Coat wok with oil before melting butter on it is to prevent butter from ‘blackening’ which usually happens when heated on stove.