Anthony Bourdain -
"Going to Southeast Asia for the first time and tasting that spectrum of flavors - that certainly changed my whole palate, the kind of foods I crave. A lot of the dishes I used to love became boring to me."
My two favorite foods in all the world are South American Cuisine and Asian. My wife and I could eat both of them daily and never tire of it. Unfortunately, we had to cut back on our Asian favorites because of their high sugar content (For those of you that don't know, we both battle type 2 diabetes, and my wife also deals with cholesterol issues).
Some Asian dishes use sugar as well as Mirin, Rice Wine, and other items that when used together can create dishes that taste incredible but are heavily laden with sugar content. One of my all-time favorite dishes, Spicey Sticky Asian Pork Ribs is just such a dish. Not only is the dish high in sugar but pork ribs have a high cholesterol content due to a large amount of fatty tissue in the meat. I know, I know, that's what makes it so good. The only thing better than pork fat for flavor is duck fat!
I recently ran across a sugar replacement called Swerve. Swerve has no effect on blood sugar levels and is zero calories. It comes in white granular, confectioners, and brown granular varieties and is used at the same measurements as sugar so you don't have to convert amounts for recipes! You can read about Swerve and its benefits and drawbacks at this Healthline.com article. I will be using the brown sugar replacement version for the Sticky Pork Chops. If you can't find Swerve or if it isn't available another Erythritol-based replacement should work just fine. The dish will still have some sugar but you won't be packing sugar on top of sugar and the result per serving is manageable.
As for lowering the cholesterol content of the dish, we will be using pork loin chops instead of pork ribs. They are extremely lean with very little fat content.
NOTE: You will want to watch the chops closely when cooking, if you overcook them they will be dry, I highly suggest using a meat thermometer and removing them at 145F.
Now let's get to it! You will need the following -
FOR THE SPICEY STICKY CHOPS
- 4 each 6-8 ounce pork loin chops
- 6-10 cloves of fresh garlic, minced (depending on how much of a garlic lover you are)
- 1/3 cup Swerve brown sugar replacement
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon ketchup (Hunt's makes a no added sugar ketchup that I use)
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha or red chili sauce (more if you like heat)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
FOR THE FRIED BROWN RICE
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup frozen peas & carrots
- 1/2 small onion (white, yellow, or red works fine)
- 1/2 baby bok choy
- 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
First in a zip lock bag or lidded dish mix the brown sugar Swerve, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, ketchup, minced garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Next, place the loin chops in the mixture and coat thoroughly on both sides and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, I like to go overnight with mine as it just intensifies the flavors. Also, remember to spoon more sauce over the chops occasionally while marinating.
After preparing the marinade I cook my rice as it is the most time-consuming out of the entire recipe. I will even cook it the night before if I know I will be pressed for time the next day.
First using a fine wire strainer rinse the rice thoroughly for 30 seconds under cold water, this removes starch from the grains so they don't lump together and makes your rice more fluffy.
Next add the rice, salt, and water to a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it boils reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and let simmer for 30 minutes. After thirty minutes shut the heat off and allow the rice to rest for another 10 minutes, DO NOT REMOVE LID. After 10 minutes has past remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Now you can set it to the side or refrigerate if making ahead.
TIME TO COOK
Place a frypan over medium heat and add the canola oil. When the oil starts to shimmer shake the excess marinade off the chops and add them to the pan. Reserve the marinade, we will be using it to make our sticky sauce. After 4-5 minutes turn the chops over and continue cooking another 4-5 minutes then remove to a plate and let rest. Pour the marinade into the pan stirring constantly until it starts to bubble, reduce heat slightly and continue stirring until the sauce has thickened. Add the chops back to the pan, moving them around and turning often to coat with the sticky sauce. They should be done in about 5-7 minutes and well coated in the sauce. Turn the heat off and spoon sauce over them.
Now for the rice. In a different pan over medium heat add the sesame oil. Once it starts to shimmer add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes till translucent. Stir in the five-spice powder and ginger. Stir the mixture for about 30 seconds then add the peas & carrots. Cook 2 more minutes then add the bok choy follow by the cooked brown rice. Gently stir the ingredients together until well mixed and remove from heat.
Plate and serve as pictured above. Sticky Chops to die for and a good healthy side to boot!
If you are not worried about sugar and cholesterol you can find plenty of recipes for Sticky ribs that are amazing.
If you try this recipe let me know in the comments below.
As always I hope you enjoyed the post.
Bon Apetite!
Hi @steelthong, I started reading a very good response from you to my post on caring options for parents, but can't see it now? It's been hectic to say the least and I so much wanted to read it all, maybe you deleted it in error? Sounded like just what I need right now, it's been harrowing!
I'm sorry I was trying to clean some stuff up on my account and playing with some things and I didn't know exactly how they worked, I ended up deleting some things and have no way of knowing if I can retrieve them or not or how to. In a nutshell, I was thinking of the last few years my wife cared for her mother with Alzheimer's and how she failed, in the beginning, to care for herself, I had to make her "self-care" so she didn't burn out or end up with her own health issues. Selfcare is a critical part of caring for a loved one at the end of life. We will always treasure those last years we spent with my wife's mom, it was worth it all and my wife cherishes those memories above all others. She drew her last breath in our house and went home to be with the Lord. My wife has no regrets and no guilt has been the most awesome daughter she could ever be. I got her to finally use a hospice service for respite visits so she could take a break every couple of months and we could get away so she could re-power and re-build. It is so much more than just the physical strain, the mental and emotional toll it takes on you is overwhelming. So I said all that to simply say - "Don't forget to care for yourself!"
Thank you for that advice @steelthong, I can just imagine how difficult that must have been, but you are so right! We need to take care of ourselves too otherwise we can't help anyone if we fall apart!
My brother's offered to get a day nurse to give us a break as that's when most of the hard work has to be done, so we'll see how things pan out. It would kill my Mom to move her to a frail care facility, she's already very anxious because it's taking so long to get better. Apparently it takes a long time for the inflammation around the tumour to clear up. This weekend was the worst, I was ready to throw in the towel but there's a glimmer of hope as she became calmer last night and her speech is a little clearer. We just hope & pray she starts to feel better but at least she's not had any more seizures so the meds must be starting to work.
Thank you for the encouragement!
Too much sugar in foods these days and the consequences that follow when the sugar intake is too high has made many get away from having their favourite meals but I'm so glad you found an alternative to still enjoy your meal just the way you like it. Staring at the image you there honestly made me yearn for that particular food and also I'd really love to try out this recipe but I suck at cooking a lot and drag my feet when I'm asked to even lift a pan but if I see anyone who'll make this for me, I'll jump at the opportunity and grab some huge bites. Lol. Maybe I'll show this to my sister, she's a cooking freak. I pray she jumps at the idea so I get to enjoy this palatable dish for once in my life.
Yes! Sugar is everywhere! I believe it is also a probable culprit in so many children having attention deficit disorders (ADD & ADHD). I hope your sister will try this, you will both love it I'm sure! Thanks for stopping by!
To sad if only the parents would help them in watching how much sugar they take in daily.
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