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Glazed and Braised Pork

Pork cubes braised with onions, shallots, orange and lime juice, water, thyme, salt, pepper, and hot pepper until glazed.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,476 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Glazed and Braised Pork

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the pork

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium until a light haze forms above it.

  2. Add the pork cubes.

  3. Turn frequently with a spoon and adjust the heat as necessary so the cubes brown richly and evenly without burning.

Braise

  1. Stir in the onions, shallots, orange juice, lime juice, water, thyme, salt, pepper, and hot pepper.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.

  3. Cover the skillet.

  4. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

  5. Uncover the skillet.

Glaze

  1. Increase the heat to high and stir frequently to prevent the meat from sticking.

  2. Cook briskly for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens to a syrupy glaze.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

488Calories
30 gProtein
28 gFat
31 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Orange Juice1 medium (131g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Lime + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together305 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,491 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Orange + limetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together937 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork loin
Browning and then gentle simmering turn the meat tender and flavorful in the sauce.
Orange juice
Adds sweetness and acidity, and its sugars reduce into a syrupy glaze.
Lime juice
Adds sharp acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the sweetness.
Onions
Soften during simmering and add body and savory sweetness to the sauce.
Vegetable oil
Conducts heat for browning the pork cubes and carries flavor across the surface.

The step that matters

Browning the pork cubes. Searing until the surfaces are richly browned builds deep flavor through the Maillard reaction. Pale, crowded or burnt meat tastes flat or bitter, so heat must be adjusted to keep browning even.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, shallot, lime, thyme, pepper):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, shallot, lime, thyme, pepper. 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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