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Caramelized Pork Over Lettuce

Cooking Light
Caramelized Pork Over Lettuce
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Worthy of a Special Occasion

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup pork and 1 cup lettuce mixture)

Ingredients

  • 2  tablespoons  sugar
  • 2  tablespoons  water
  • 2  tablespoons  fish sauce
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  vegetable oil, divided
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 1/2  pounds  boned pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1  (10 1/2-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
  • 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
  • 1  (3-inch) cinnamon stick
  • 2  cups  (2-inch) sliced green onions
  • 6  cups  shredded romaine lettuce
  • 1/4  cup  rice vinegar
  • 1/4  cup  thinly sliced fresh basil
  • 1/4  cup  minced fresh cilantro

Preparation

Place the sugar in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat; cook 5 minutes or until golden (do not stir). Add water and fish sauce (mixture will splatter); remove from heat.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over high heat. Add pork, and cook 4 minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove pork from skillet. Stir broth into skillet, scraping skillet to loosen browned bits. Return pork to pan; add the caramelized sugar mixture, black pepper, and cinnamon stick, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until pork is tender. Remove from skillet, and keep warm.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in skillet; add green onions. Sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add to pork mixture; keep warm.

Combine shredded lettuce, rice vinegar, basil, and cilantro in a large bowl, and toss well. Serve pork mixture over lettuce mixture.

Nutritional Information

Calories:
234 (39% from fat)
Fat:
10g (sat 3.3g,mono 4.2g,poly 1.5g)
Protein:
25.8g
Carbohydrate:
8.7g
Fiber:
2.2g
Cholesterol:
69mg
Iron:
2.2mg
Sodium:
618mg
Calcium:
60mg
Cooking Light, JUNE 1998

Member Ratings and Reviews

5 stars
M
This recipe came out really great! Here are some changes I made: 1. Marinated pork in low-fat sesame salad dressing for 20 minutes. 2. Added the basil leaves into the pork while simmering. (Also threw in some dried chilies for a kick!) 3. Sauteed green onions with some ready-sliced mushrooms (in same pan that pork simmered in.) These were DELICIOUS!! 4. Served over baby spinach instead of romaine with cucumbers, grape tomatoes, bean sprouts (and then added the pork and mushrooms.) Also, my pork/broth mixture reduced in about 35 minutes instead of the proposed hour and a half - maybe my temperature was too high but it turned out fine for me. (Tip if you want the "speedy version, I suppose!)06/10/08

5 stars
cntrykitten66
overall, a good recipe. however, the cinnamon flavor was just a little to strong for me. I served jasmine rice as a side, which went nicely with the meat and lettuce.06/29/04