Braised pork with plums

Braised pork with plums

Meltingly tender meat in a spicy, fruity sauce, this meal is guaranteed to impress

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

plus marinating

Method

  1. Cut the pork into big pieces about the length of your thumb and twice as wide. Put into a bowl or food bag, and add the wine, soy sauces, half the ginger, half the garlic and half the chilli. Marinate for at least 1 hr or up to 24 hrs.
  2. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3, then heat the oil in a large casserole. Tip in half the spring onions, remaining ginger and garlic, the star anise, five-spice powder and cinnamon. Fry gently until fragrant and soft. Stir in the sugar, turn up the heat, then lift the pork from the marinade and turn in the oniony mix for about 3 mins until the meat is just sealed but not browned. Tip in the marinade, tomato purée and stock, give it a stir, cover, then braise in the oven for 2 hrs.
  3. After the first hr is up, add the plums to the pan. Take the lid off and carry on the cooking, uncovered. The meat should be completely tender, turning golden brown where it breaks the surface of the sauce. Spoon off any excess fat from the surface, then scoop the meat and plums carefully from the pan with a slotted spoon. Turn up the heat and boil the sauce for 5-10 mins until reduced and slightly syrupy. Return everything to the pan, gently warm through, then scatter the rest of the spring onions over the top to serve.
Try

IF YOU WANT TO USE A SLOW COOKER...

Adapt this recipe by preparing the pork according to step 1. Then cook the spring onions, remaining ginger, garlic, chilli, cinnamon, star anise, five-spice, sugar and 2 tbsp tomato purée. Fry until soft then add the pork, frying until sealed. Put it all into the slow cooker with the marinade, cover and cook for 8-9 hours on Low. Skim off surface fat halfway through. Stir in the plums an hour before the end. Scoop out the plums and meat then make the sauce and serve according to step 3.

530 kcalories, protein 40g, carbohydrate 11g, fat 36 g, saturated fat 13g, fibre 1g, sugar 10g, salt 2.87 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo foodies

    2009-09-18 16:51:17.885918

    foodies commented on this recipe

    I had a large piece of belly pork lurking in the freezer and half a punnet of Victoria plums languishing in the fridge. This was the perfect recipe to use them up. I kept the pork in one piece but otherwise followed the cooking method. I only needed 500 ml stock and had to add 2 tablespoons of redcurrant jelly to counteract the acidity of the fruit. It was absolutely delicious with a thick plummy sauce. this is a recipe I will definitely make again. I think it would also work well with beef and could be adapted for chicken portions.

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  • Binder photo Kate2008

    2009-09-19 10:07:45.859523

    Kate2008 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is by far the nicest recipe I have ever cooked from good food. It is absolutely divine, the pork is so tender and the flavours are amazing! So simple too - just throw together and leave to braise.

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  • Binder photo Dory6

    2009-09-20 15:07:46.841773

    Dory6 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy to prepare and cook! The taste is immense! Served it with stir fried egg noodles. Have done this in the slow cooker too when I needed it to be 'ready and waiting' at the end of the day and reduced the sauce on the hob. Excellent!

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  • Binder photo Linda

    2009-09-20 23:07:52.625036

    Linda rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was absolutely delicious! The pork was tender and all the ingredients complimented each other. Was like a chinese takeaway but 100 times better. Duck would probably go well with these ingredients. Will definately be making it again!

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  • Binder photo joanannet

    2009-09-24 19:09:28.910142

    joanannet rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I found all the 'meat in and out of the pan' part of the recipe a bit of a pain. I much prefer Dory6's suggestion about using the slow cooker. The end result was tasty enough for us adults but the kids hated cooked plums and they were left at the side of the plate. Don't think I'll bother with this recipe again.

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  • Binder photo joanannet

    2009-09-24 19:11:12.926875

    joanannet commented on this recipe

    PS......far too much liquid. I didn't even get close to 'syrupy'!

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  • Binder photo inger gdfd

    2009-09-25 10:43:47.660994

    inger gdfd rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    It smelled delicious, tasted nice, but next time I would only use 1/2 tsp of five-spice, as it was overpowering the other flavours of the dish. And I agree with Joanannet, its not suitable for children!

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  • Binder photo Gill

    2009-09-27 11:14:02.637417

    Gill commented on this recipe

    Absolutely lovely - will def make this a regular feature on our dinner menu.

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  • Binder photo Gill

    2009-09-27 11:14:38.781718

    Gill rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    oophs meant to add is 5 star

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  • Binder photo stevo

    2009-09-27 19:28:33.281323

    stevo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    made it with chicken and the chicken melted in the mouth fantastic flavours

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  • Binder photo jo62

    2009-09-27 20:37:14.398512

    jo62 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious. Used pork leg steaks which were beautifully moist and tender. I halved the recipe but didn't half the amount of stock used as I was worried it would be too dry. This worked perfectly and I ended up with just the right amount of rich syrupy sauce. I will definitely cook this again.

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  • Binder photo Baking Betty

    2009-09-30 16:49:12.871645

    Baking Betty rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I had this for dinner last night and can't wait to make it again. The flavours are fantastic, and I used streaky pork, which was melt in the mouth and is a cheap cut for those watching the pennies. Had the flavours of sticky chinese ribs but without all the bits that stick in your teeth. A definite a hearty but slightly different meal for impressing friends with

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  • Binder photo Home Cooking

    2009-10-03 08:59:15.045669

    Home Cooking rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this last night for a dinner party, trippled the quantities and ended up leaving it to cook for 4hrs - oops. Everyone loved the multi level of flavours, the pork (tenderloin) was beautiful and the plums fell to pieces. The 11 yrs old loved it too, I guess from previous comments because the plums sort of vanished into the cooking. Absolute winner, will definitely make again and this time with correct cooking times.

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  • Binder photo redcook

    2009-10-12 12:48:18.636855

    redcook rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Karen D

    2009-10-24 23:24:43.611233

    Karen D rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely gorgeous, tender and full of flavour. Will make again when I want to impress!

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  • Binder photo louise

    2009-10-25 20:16:59.723646

    louise rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    awesome! lots of flavour and the meat is just oh so tender!!!

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  • Binder photo Ali

    2009-11-02 17:19:23.199931

    Ali rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have cooked this twice now. Both times I have cooked it for about 14 hours in a slow cooker. It's absolutely gorgeous and my children (12 and 13 years) both love it also. They hate fruit but as it was cooked for so long the plums just melted. The second time I made it I reduced the liquid by half in a saucepan which made it lovely and thick. I then froze it and used it for a dinner party. A real winner!!

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  • Binder photo thynk2much

    2009-11-12 11:30:07.547498

    thynk2much rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really beautiful.

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  • Binder photo Marianne

    2009-11-25 10:20:19.41424

    Marianne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I am making this meal for the third time, I have to halve the ingredients as it is for just myself and my two children (7 & 9), but we all adore this recipe and my baby will be trying it now, albeit pureed.

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  • Binder photo rigathistle

    2009-11-26 10:30:37.508238

    rigathistle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Have cooked this three times now and enjoyed it every time. Can't get rice wine here so use a local concoction called Black Balsam, which works a treat.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs

plus marinating

Ingredients

  • about 1.6kg/3lb 8oz pork shoulder
  • 5 tbsp rice wine
  • 5 tbsp light soy sauce for flavour, 1 tbsp dark for colour
  • generous thumb-size piece fresh root ginger
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • bunch spring onions , finely sliced
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 ½ tsp five-spice powder
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 tbsp sugar , any type
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 6 ripe plums , halved and stoned
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530 kcalories, protein 40g, carbohydrate 11g, fat 36 g, saturated fat 13g, fibre 1g, sugar 10g, salt 2.87 g

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