Weight Watchers Sweet and Sticky Pork ala NBH

Despite our ongoing attempts to diet, I still like to eat well. I enjoy cooking (it's lucky someone in the house does, because Blondie certainly doesn't...) and I'm glad we're sticking to a diet that lets us cook things from scratch. I often start with a vague idea of a protein I'd like to eat or a style of food I want and then mess around until I have something resembling a meal, with pro-points I can stick the ingredients into my phone and end up with a value for my inventions. Hopefully that works most of the time but sometimes it's a lot easier just to follow a recipe.


I've been trying recipes from a couple of Weight Watchers books over the past couple of weeks. Seriously Satisfying has recipes ranging from breakfast, through lunches to desserts as well as food for one, restaurant style dishes and food which will impress dinner party guests, without them knowing they're eating "diet" food.


Last night we tried "Sweet and Sticky Pork": a chinese style dish featuring pork tenderloin with rice and vegetables.

For four people take:


150g long grain rice
350g pork tenderloin (cut into 12 slices)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
150g mange tout or sugar snap peas


1) Cook the rice according to packet instructions and keep warm
2) Pound the pork with a rolling pin until 1cm (1/2 an inch) thick
3) Mix the soy, honey, ginger, garlic and chilli. Heat the cooking spray in a pan (med/hot). Dip the pork in the sauce and toss into pan. Cook for 2 mins, turn and cook for another 2, ensuring the pork is cooked through. It should have turned dark and sticky.
4) While cooking the pork in batches, boil some water in another pan. Add the carrots and cook for 3 mins, then add the peas and cook for another 2.
5) Once the pork is cooked stick the rest of the sauce into the pan, heat through.
6) Serve


7 pro points per serving


It was pretty good, but I can't follow a recipe without messing with it. My two cents:


1)Cut the pork into 6 pieces not 12. It should be a nice, tender cut of meat to begin with, 1cm thin is too thin. Don't pound it either.
2) On that note, there's not enough pork. Doubling the pork makes the recipe 10 pro points, still a small amount. I guarantee you'll go hungry with only 90g of pork per person. I'd use 600-700g of pork, and cut it into 12 medallions, or 3 per person.
3)Mince the garlic, or at the very least finely chop it. Crushing it gives no flavour.


It seemed to go down well when I cooked it my way and I'd certainly eat it again.


At some point over the next week I'll stick up a recipe from another book I've been using, Oriental Express.


Transatlantic Blonde were provided these cookbooks but all opinions are our own.