Whenever you see those headlines like, "Worst Take-Out Food Choices Ever," on the various websites, you can be sure that sweet and sour pork will be near the top of the list.
That's because it's usually made from
fatty pieces of pork shoulder, cut into cubes, dipped in a thick batter,
deep-fried, and finally coated with a super-sugary, thick, starchy
sauce.
I'm no shrinking violet around
high-calorie food, but classic Chinese-American take-out sweet and sour
pork is basically deep-fried, sugar-coated, fatty pork chunks. And yes,
once in a while, it's pretty damn awesome (like twice a decade).
For a more reasonable way to enjoy the
same basic flavors, I think this pork tenderloin version is a nice
alternative. As I say in the video, pork tenderloin is lean, very easy
to cook (as long as you can get past those ridiculous fears about
slightly pink pork), and the sauce takes about two minutes to prep.
By
the way, this is not simply fake Chinese food; it's actually fake, fake
Chinese food. The aforementioned death nuggets we call sweet and sour
pork are not even remotely close to any kind of authentic sweet and sour
preparation in real Chinese cuisine. Or at least that’s what I heard
Anthony Bourdain say one time. Now that's research.