Sweet-Sour Pork and Rice
Freeze-dried pork, dried cranberries, and orange in a soy-vinegar sauce over instant rice.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 550 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried or dehydrated pork | 2 oz | shredded rehydrates faster than cubes |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rice | 1 cup | the 5-minute kind, not parboiled |
| Dried cranberries | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried orange slices or orange peel | 2 tbsp | chopped small |
| Soy sauce powder | 1 tbsp | or 2 tbsp liquid soy in a leakproof bottle |
| Rice wine vinegar | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Brown sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | |
| Hot sauce | 1 tsp | or a pinch of cayenne in the premix |
| Oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Boil 550 ml of water. Add the pork, cranberries, and orange. Simmer four minutes so the meat takes on water before the starch goes in.
- Dump in the rice and the sauce premix. Stir once, cover, kill the heat.
- Wait eight minutes. The cornstarch thickens as it sits and pulls the liquid off the bottom.
- Stir in the vinegar and oil last. Vinegar boiled off is vinegar wasted.
The original is a stuffed pork roast that bakes an hour in a covered pan. None of that survives a stove with one pot, so what carried over is the flavor logic: fruit sugar, soy salt, and vinegar acid against fatty meat. Dried cranberries and orange do the same job as the drained cans, and they weigh nothing.
The cornstarch matters more than it looks. Without it you get pork and rice sitting in a thin brown puddle. One teaspoon turns that liquid into a glaze that coats the rice instead of pooling under it. Add the vinegar off the heat so the sharpness is still there when you eat.
Packing
Two bags. One holds pork, cranberries, and orange. The other holds rice, brown sugar, cornstarch, soy powder, and cayenne. Vinegar and oil ride in dropper bottles.
Variations
- Freeze-dried chicken works the same way and costs less.
- Add a handful of dried mushrooms to the first boil for body.
- Swap the rice for instant couscous and cut the water to 400 ml.
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/general-pupose-recipe-for-wild-pork.215971