Vietnamese Pork and Pineapple Stir Fry (Muc Xao Khom)
Recipe bySalty, tangy and sweet. Meaty but bursting with fruit and vegetables. This Vietnamese pork and pineapple stir fry (muc xao khom) has so much nuance that's hard to resist.For best results, use fresh pineapple. Canned fruit just won't give you the right texture and flavor.
Ingredients
- 300 to 400 grams pork neck thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar divided
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- ½ to 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 large and plump tomato
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 stalk celery save the leaves for garnish
- 3 stalks onion leaves
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch or corn or potato starch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
Instructions
- Place the pork in a bowl. Add half of the sugar, fish sauce and black pepper. Mix well, working the seasonings into the meat. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Crush and mince the garlic.
- Roughly chop the onion and bell pepper.
- Cut the tomato into quarters (or eighths, if it is rather large).
- Finely slice the celery stalk.
- Roughly chop the onion leaves.
- Mix together the remaining sugar, starch, vinegar and lemon juice for the sauce.
- Heat two tablespoons cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Add the pork and stir fry (see stir frying basics) until the meat changes color.
- Add the garlic and continue stir frying until the edges of the pork start to brown lightly.
- Scoop out the pork and keep warm.
- Add the remaining cooking oil to the wok and heat. Stir fry the onion, celery, bell pepper and tomato.
- Return the pork back into the wok.
- Add the pineapple chunks.
- Pour in the sauce.
- Cook, stirring often, just until the sauce thickens.
- Transfer the stir fried dish to a platter. Garnish with onion leaves and the celery leaves (and cilantro, if you like).
- Serve your Vietnamese pork and pineapple stir fry with hot rice.
Notes
Adapted from a recipe by Luke Nguyen.
Updated from a recipe originally published in September 21, 2011
Updated from a recipe originally published in September 21, 2011