This is a Thai-style sweet and sour stir fry made with ground pork, fresh pineapple, cucumber, and baby corn, all pulled together with a quick pan sauce of pineapple juice, beef stock, ketchup, and vinegar. It comes together in under 30 minutes and uses ingredients most kitchens already have. Ground pork keeps it affordable and means the sauce coats every bite instead of just the outside of a chunk of meat.
Why this recipe works
Two things make this work. First, ground pork browns fast and absorbs the sauce as it cooks — unlike cubed pork, which can stay bland in the middle. Break it up fine in the pan and let it get some color before adding any liquid; that browning is where the flavor comes from. Second, the sauce is built from pantry staples that already carry acidity, sweetness, and body, so you don’t need a long list of specialty items to get a result that tastes balanced. The pineapple juice does double duty — it adds sweetness and thins the sauce just enough to coat the vegetables without turning everything soggy.
About the ingredients
- Pineapple: Fresh is best for texture, but canned pineapple chunks in juice work fine. Drain them well and pat dry so they don’t water down the pan. Save the canning juice to use in place of fresh pineapple juice.
- Baby corn: If you can’t find it, sliced water chestnuts or a handful of frozen corn kernels (thawed and dried) hold up similarly in the pan.
- Beef stock: Chicken stock or even a half-strength vegetable stock cube dissolved in water substitutes without noticeably changing the dish.
- Fish sauce: If you don’t have it, a small pinch of salt gets you close enough. Soy sauce also works but will shift the color slightly darker.
- Cucumber: Add it in the last 60 seconds only — it softens quickly and turns watery if it sits in heat too long.
Storage and reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cucumber will soften further overnight, which is fine — it just becomes part of the sauce rather than a crunchy element. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork reaches 160°F (71°C) throughout. A splash of water or stock loosens the sauce if it has thickened in the fridge. This dish doesn’t freeze well — the pineapple and cucumber break down and release too much water on thawing.
Mistakes to avoid
- Crowding the pan: Too much in the wok at once drops the temperature and the pork steams instead of browning. Cook in batches if your pan is small.
- Adding the sauce too early: Pour it in before the pork is fully cooked and you’ll end up simmering the meat in liquid the whole time. Brown the pork first, then add the sauce.
- Skipping the cornstarch slurry: Without it, the sauce stays thin and pools at the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the pork and vegetables. Mix it smooth before it goes in — lumps don’t dissolve once they hit a hot pan.
- Over-sweetening to fix sourness: If the sauce tastes too sharp, add stock or a small amount of ketchup rather than more sugar. Piling in sugar makes the whole thing cloying fast.
- Garnishing with fresh chili when serving kids: Skip the garnish — not worth the extra dish when you can just put sliced chili on the table for adults who want it.
Sweet and Sour Pork Stir Fry Recipe
Ingredients
200 grams ground pork (minced pork)
½ medium pineapple - ripe, peeled and diced
1 medium onion - cut into eights
½ medium cucumber - peeled, core removed and sliced or diced- 1 handful baby corn - halved
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 sprigs spring onions - cut into 1 – 2 centimetre pieces
1 medium tomato - cut into eights- 50 ml pineapple juice
100 ml beef stock (beef broth or beef bouillon)
4 tablespoons ketchup (tomato sauce Australia and UK)
3 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 dash salt
1 dash ground black pepper- ½ teaspoon umami MSG
1 medium red chili (red chilli in British English) - in fine stripes to garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wok and fry pork and garlic for about 3 to 5 minutes. Deglaze with pineapple juice and broth and let the liquid reduce.
- Add onion, baby corn and cucumber and let it simmer for another 3 minutes, then add tomato ketchup and stir well.
- Add pineapple, tomato and spring onions and season with salt, sugar, black pepper, vinegar and MSG umami.
- Let it simmer until the vegetables get the bite you like, and serve the sweet and sour pork stir fry with steamed Thai jasmine rice.
Nutrition
FAQ
Can I use ground chicken or turkey instead of pork?
Yes, both work in this recipe. Cook ground chicken or turkey to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and make sure no pink remains before adding the sauce. The flavor will be milder than pork, so you may want a small extra splash of fish sauce or soy sauce to compensate.
I don’t have a wok — can I use a regular frying pan?
A large, heavy skillet works fine. The key is high heat and not overloading the pan, which matters more than the pan shape. A 12-inch skillet gives you enough surface area to brown the pork properly without steaming it.
Can I make the sauce ahead of time?
Yes — mix the pineapple juice, stock, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and seasoning up to two days ahead and keep it in a jar in the fridge. Add the cornstarch slurry only when you’re ready to cook, not before, or it will settle and lose its thickening power.
Try these next
- Savory Pork Noodle Stir-Fry
- Authentic Szechuan Dan Dan
- Japanese Pork Lettuce Cups
- Horopito Pork Stir Fry
