Spiced Pork Cutlets With Blood Plum Sauce

We all love pork cutlets, but sometimes they can get a little boring. Give them the sweet and sour treatment – but forget those gluggy sauces you remember from your take-away. It’s easy to recreate those flavours with natural ingredients!

Ingredients – serves 4

1 tbs ground five spice

Freshly ground white pepper

2 tbs peanut oil

4 x 200g Frenched pork cutlets

Steamed Chinese broccoli and steamed rice, to serve

Blood plum sauce

½ cup water

75g (1/3 cup) brown sugar

3, about 250g blood plums, quartered

1 tbs Shao Xing rice wine

1 cinnamon quill

4cm piece ginger, julienned

2 star anise

2 tbs fish sauce

2 tsp malt vinegar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced.

2. Combine five spice, pepper, oil and salt in a shallow dish. Coat pork cutlets in marinade.

3. Heat a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook cutlets for 2 minutes
each side, then transfer to oven for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to a plate,
and cover loosely with foil. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, to make sauce, combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring
until dissolved. Add plums, cinnamon, star anise and ginger, stir to combine. Bring mixture to
the boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, covered, for 6 minutes or
until plums are tender. Add fish sauce and vinegar, stir to combine. Remove from heat and keep
warm.

5. Serve pork with plum sauce, broccoli and steamed rice.

Which Asian take-away favourite would you like to see get a healthy makeover?