Pineapple Curry Pork with Rice

Tonight's recipe is two steps and the first one takes some time. I can't take credit for this dish because it's origin is a curry paste made by one of my best friends using the Ming Tsai recipe (found in his book Blue Ginger). The first step is making the curry paste. The second step is using the curry paste in this dish.

serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp peanut oil

2 boneless center cut pork chops - slice the pork into pieces

2 tbsp of Ming Tsai curry paste

2 tbsp sambal

1 12 oz can of coconut milk

1 carrot sliced

1/2 medium white onion sliced

5 mushrooms sliced

1 stalk of salary sliced on an angle

1/2 red pepper cut into strips

1/2 square of tofu sliced

1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple

1. In a saute pan, heat the peanut oil on medium heat for a minute. Add the pork and saute the pork for approximately 3 minutes, allowing pork to brown.

2. Once the pork has browned, add the curry paste and sambal to the pan. Saute the pork in the curry paste for 3 to 5 minutes. Keep the pan on medium heat, allowing the paste to stick to the pan a bit.

3. Add the can of coconut milk to the pan, releasing the bits of pork and browned curry paste from the pan. This is called deglazing the pan. Bring the sauce and pork to a simmer.

4. Add all of the vegetables to the saute pan. Bring to a simmer again. Allow the vegetables to cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add the crushed pineapple and tofu to the pan. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low or simmer. Cook for 10 minutes covered. Uncover the pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes allowing the dish to reduce a bit and thicken. The carrots should be cooked but still a bit al dente.

6. Serve pineapple curry pork over steamed white or brown rice.