Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Pork

This was the second recipe that I made for my husband's potluck. Girls liked this one! I also doubled the recipe because used around 3 lb of pork chops, cut into chunks.

Sweet and Sour Pork (~from Amy + Jacky)

Ingredients

·        4 (808g, which is ~1.7 lb) boneless or bone-in pork chops , pounded (used ~3 lb, tenderized and  cut into chunks)

·        1 tablespoon (15ml) peanut oil or olive oil

·        ⅔ cup (100g) canned pineapple chunks (used entire large can of pineapples drained)

·        1 (140g) green/red bell pepper , chopped (used 3 peppers, 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow)

·        1 (100g) small onion , chopped (used 2 small onions)

·        3 (13g) garlic cloves , minced

·        ¾ cup (188ml) cold water

·        ¼ cup (60g) ketchup

·        ¼ cup (60ml) white vinegar (used apple cider vinegar)

·        1.5 tablespoon (21g) white sugar

·        1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce or Chinese light soy sauce

·        1 tablespoon (15g) tomato paste

·        1 teaspoon (5ml) Worcestershire sauce

Marinade: (for the marinade, did not measure ingredients but estimated how much of each ingredient to use)

·        ½ teaspoon (2.3g) white sugar

·        ¼ teaspoon (1.25g) kosher salt

·        ¼ teaspoon (1.25ml) sesame oil

·        1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce or Chinese light soy sauce

Thickener: (used 3 tablespoons corn starch and 3 tablespoons of water, then added additional 2 teaspoons corn starch with 2 teaspoons of water)

·        2.5 tablespoons (22.5g) cornstarch

·        3 tablespoons (45ml) cold water

Instructions

1.               Tenderize Pork Chops: Use the backend of a heavy knife or meat tenderizer to pound both sides of pork chops with all your might (see below photos as reference).

2.               Marinate Pork Chops: Marinate with ½ tsp white sugar, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp soy sauce for at least 30 minutes. If you are marinating for 1 1/2 - 8 hours, place them in the fridge.

3.               Prepare Instant Pot Pressure Cooker: Heat up pressure cooker over medium heat (Instant Pot: use Sauté Normal Function). Ensure your pot is as hot as it can be (Instant Pot: wait until indicator says HOT). This prevents pork chops from sticking to the pot.

4.               Brown Pork Chops: Add 1 tbsp (15ml) peanut oil. Ensure to coat oil over whole bottom of the pot. Brown 2 marinated pork chops for roughly 75 - 90 seconds per side (don’t constantly flip them). Remove and set aside. Repeat for remaining pork chops.

5.               Sauté Onions & Garlic: Add chopped onions, a pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper if desired. Cook onions for roughly 1 minute until softened. Add minced garlic cloves and sauté for another 30 seconds until fragrant.

6.               Deglaze: Add ⅔ cup (188ml) cold water and deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom.

7.               Pressure Cook Pork Chops: Add ¼ cup (60ml) ketchup, ¼ cup (60ml) white vinegar, 1.5 tbsp (21g) white sugar, 1 tbsp (15ml) soy sauce, 1 tbsp (15g) tomato paste, and 1 tsp (5ml) Worcestershire sauce. Stir and mix well. Place pork chops + all meat juice in the pot. Pressure cook at High Pressure for 1 minute, then 10 minutes Natural Release.

8.               Make Sweet & Sour Sauce: Remove pork chops. Press Cancel button, then Sauté button to heat up the sauce. Add ⅔ cup (100g) pineapple chunks and chopped green/red pepper. Stir and cook for a minute.

9.               Thicken Sauce: Mix 2.5 tbsp (22.5g) cornstarch with 3 tbsp (45ml) cold water. Mix it in one third at a time until desired thickness. Taste the sweet ‘n sour sauce and season with more salt, sugar, or vinegar. For reference, we added 2 pinches of kosher salt. Turn off the heat. Add pork chops back in and coat them with the delicious sauce. Added salt and sugar after cooking

10.            Serve: Drizzle sweet ‘n sour sauce over pork chops, then enjoy!