Easy Sticky Pork and Broccoli With Rice

Budget Chinese Food Dinner Recipe - Easy Sticky Pork and Rice Dinner - Sticky Pork Recipe For Quick Weeknight Dinner
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I started experimenting with creating homemade Chinese food about 4 years ago and there is one sauce recipe I keep turning back to. This recipe is a slight variation on this sauce, it gives you a more salty instead of sweet taste which is perfect for pork dishes.

As a notice, and I’ll mention this again in the ingredients section for my scroll direct to recipe people, I cook by sight and taste, not by measurements. So I estimate the measurements in a lot of my recipes, you will want to make sure you are tasting your sauce to decide the right amount of salty vs. sweet.

I’m A Sucker For Take Out

It was a sad day in our house about a week ago when we called to place an order with our favorite chinese place. We found out that they are closed for the summer while they move to a new location just 2 blocks away from their current location.

As I screamed “No” ala Luke Skywalker when he found out who his father was, I knew I’d have to start remembering all the different chinese food dishes I’ve learned to make over the years. So expect a bunch of these recipes popping up on the blog this summer.

While Pittsburgh has plenty of Chinese places to choose from none of them cut it like Sesame Inn in Mt. Lebanon. I miss you Sesame Inn and look forward to you reopening soon.

Sticky Pork and Broccoli over rice

Getting My Chinese Food Fix

Of course with this first world problem of not being able to order take out I’m still going to have to get my fix. Since we’ve already tried every other restaurant in the area and they are not quite as good as Sesame Inn, I’m going to have to make these at home.

It’s a good thing that when we were broke several years ago and couldn’t afford to order take out I figured out a few staple recipes so we could get our fix. My fried rice is pretty good along with my Lo Mein. 

However, my best recipes are the ones that use my sticky sauce and variations.

They are best served over plain white rice. Additionally, they are filling without causing your blood sugar to skyrocket like some of those frozen chinese dinners from the grocery store. 

The Sauce Is Key

The biggest success to any Chinese dish is in the sauce. I’m sure you’ve seen the Orange Marmalade and BBQ sauce mix, nothing against that but that’s just way too much sugar and doesn’t taste like traditional orange sauce.

You want to make sure that you get just a good amount of heat in your sauce and the best way to do that is with Sriracha. Now, this sauce is extremely hot so start off with small amounts and slowly add more until you get the temperature you are looking for.

Season, Season, Season

Chinese food should never lack in seasoning. Be generous with your garlic, onion, and ginger. Season your meat, let it sit in a marinade if possible, don’t cook it plain.

Also get to know your different oils for the pan. I love to use sesame oil but if you want a bit of heat red chili oil works great too.  

Another must have ingredient is white rice vinegar. This gets used a lot when making sushi but I find it adds a nice zing to the sauces I mix up too.

Sticky Pork And Broccoli With Rice

Now, this is in no way authentic Chinese food, if you want that I recommend jumping over to The Woks Of Life. They have amazing recipes. My recipes are like budget versions of Chinese food that end up being super delicious.

As I stated earlier, I mostly go by taste to get what I’m looking for in my Chinese food recipes. All measurements for the sauce are estimates so make sure you taste test before you commit. This recipe is a blend of salt and heat that’s delicious to me. To cut heat or salt, add more honey or even a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Easy Sticky Pork Dinner

Ingredients

  • 1 lbs of Pork Chops Sliced Thin
  • 1 bag of frozen broccoli
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Pepper
  • Ginger Powder
  • 2 Cups White Rice
  • 2 Cups Water

Sauce:

  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 – 3 tbsp honey
  • ⅓-½ cup of low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 – 2 tsp of sriracha sauce
  • 1 – 2 tsp of rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • For sweeter sauce: 1 tablespoon of brown sugar

To Thicken Sauce:

  • ½ tbsp of cornstarch
  • 1 ½ tbsp of water

Directions

  1. First, start your rice. I like to do mine in the Instant Pot, however you can make your rice on the stove top or use Minute rice if needed. For Instant pot rice I rinse the 2 cups of rice in a fine mesh colander and add 2 cups of water to the instant pot. Once the rice is rinsed add it to the instant pot too. Swirl the rice and water with your hand, close the lid and close the valve. Hit the rice button and let it go.
  2. Next heat up a skillet on high heat with about 2 tablespoons of oil in it. I’ve used olive oil or a drizzle of sesame oil, whatever you have on hand is fine. Once the skillet and oil is hot add your thinly sliced pork. While it starts cooking sprinkle with Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Pepper, and Ginger Powder. Season to taste.
  3. Once the meat is white on the outside add your frozen broccoli and let it cook. The water and ice from the broccoli will melt into the skillet. You want to let this water cook most of the way off before adding your sauce.
  4. In a small bowl add your sauce ingredients and mix with a fork until well blended. Taste your sauce. For more spice or heat add more sriracha slowly until to your liking. For less salt add more honey or a tablespoon of brown sugar to your liking. For more zing or tartness to your sauce add small amounts of rice vinegar.
  5. Once the water is cooked down in your skillet turn your skillet down to a low heat and add your sauce. Stir occasionally while you let the sauce and skillet ingredients simmer till your rice is done. If when the rice is complete your sauce is a little too runny, mix your cornstarch and water in a small dish till well combined and add to the skillet. Stir until sauce thickens. 
  6. Serve sticky pork and broccoli over white rice and enjoy.
Easy Sticky Pork Dinner

Pork and Broccoli

This recipe is extremely versatile. You can make it sweeter, leave it saltier, add in fresh vegetables, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, or bean sprouts. I encourage you to add to it as much as you want.

You may need to increase the sauce amount with added ingredients so keep that in mind. Remember, go by taste and look to make it to your liking. Sometimes in recreating your favorite dishes you may end up creating something that you like even more.

What’s your favorite Chinese food dish? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite dinner boards.

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Budget Chinese Food Dinner Recipe - Easy Sticky Pork and Rice Dinner - Sticky Pork Recipe For Quick Weeknight Dinner

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1 thought on “Easy Sticky Pork and Broccoli With Rice”

  1. I was looking for an easy Pork and Broccoli with Rice recipe that I could make with ingredients already on hand. After lots of searching, I came across your recipe and am so happy I did. This was fantastic and so simple to make! I really appreciated the tips on how to alter if wanting more salty, sweet, or tart. What a thoughtful addition!

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