Adapting a favorite recipe to fit into a low sugar, low cholesterol lifestyle.
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!