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Pork Chops Cantonese

A Cantonese-style pork chop dish with pineapple, soy sauce, and vegetables served over rice.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Syrup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 173 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Pork Chops Cantonese

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the pork

  1. Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

  2. Brown each side in oil.

  3. Remove all but 2 teaspoons fat.

  4. Add onion and cook lightly.

Simmer the chops

  1. Stir in pineapple syrup and water to make 1-1/4 cups.

  2. Add sherry; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until chops are tender.

  3. Blend cornstarch, ginger and soy sauce.

  4. Stir into meat mixture.

  5. Cook about 1 minute or until slightly thickened.

Add vegetables and serve

  1. Add celery, carrots and pineapple.

  2. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 10 minutes.

  3. Serve with fluffy rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1221Calories
48 gProtein
30 gFat
183 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Syrupnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Syrup + saucetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together173 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Pineapple + sherrytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together228 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pineapple + gingertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together559 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork chops
Are the main protein, becoming tender through long, moist simmering in the sauce.
Cornstarch
Thickens the pan liquid into a glossy sauce once it is stirred in and heated.
Soy sauce
Adds salty, savory depth that balances the sweetness of the pineapple syrup.
Pineapple chunks
Add sweetness and a hint of acidity that brightens the savory sauce.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, building a flavor base for the sauce.
Carrots
Contribute sweetness and a crisp-tender texture after brief cooking.

The step that matters

Cooking the sauce after adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch thickens only when heated to a simmer and held briefly, so stirring it in and cooking about a minute is needed for a glossy sauce. Too little heat leaves it thin and starchy; over-stirring or boiling too long can break it down and thin the sauce again.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, pineapple, syrup, sherry, ginger, sauce):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, pineapple, syrup, sherry, ginger, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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