Sweet-and-sour pork gets a healthy and tasty makeover

Sweet-and-sour pork can be mighty tasty. But those great flavors can carry enormous amounts of calories, fat and saturated fat.

Long before I became aware of calories or fat, my stepfather used to take me to his favorite Chinese restaurant for a father-son lunch. He always ordered sweet-and-sour pork, with a fried rice side and he'd chow-down, big time.

Of course, we'd share (that's half the fun) and, over time, I also began to savor well-made, sweet-and-sour pork. At that time, neither of us knew what we were really eating.

An article in the April 2007 Nutrition Action Healthletter shone a very bright light on Chinese food in general and sweet-and-sour pork specifically. Editors revealed that lab tests of a restaurant version showed the dish served up 1,300 calories, 13 saturated fat grams and potentially more than 60 fat grams.

How can something with meat and veggies shoot so high up the calorie scale? Simple: How it's prepared.

Chinese sweet-and-sour pork starts out by coating fairly fatty pork pieces with batter and dropping them in a deep-fat fryer, just like onion rings. And, just like those rings, their batter soaks up fryer oil like a sponge.

After stir-frying the vegetables (commonly onion, green pepper and pineapple chunks), they toss that deep-fried pork into the pan for one final stir-fry where it absorbs more oil. Then, everything's coated in a sweet-and-sour sauce (the sweet comes from sugar; sour from vinegar) and voila a high-fat, high-calorie nightmare.

Over the years I've never forgotten how good a sweet-and-sour stir-fry tastes, so I decided to attempt my lean wizardry on this Chinese classic to see if I could make it lower in fat and much lower in calories.

First I gave the ol' heave-ho to the batter and deep-frying step, figuring I'd do some major damage to both calories and fat. And, because lean pork ends up lacking flavor and dries out too easily, I switched to chicken breast. This also meant that I'd need chunkier chicken pieces, cooked until just done, to keep it moist and tender.

I took a look at sweet and sour sauces in the definitive "The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook" by Gloria Bley Miller. I learned that a standard sweet-and-sour sauce can have up to a half cup sugar -- that's almost 400 nutritionally bankrupt calories. Switching to an equivalent amount of artificial sweetener cut almost 100 calories per serving, not an insignificant amount.

Finally, instead of using the usual four tablespoons of oil (almost 500 calories) to stir-fry, I switched to two tablespoons and a nonstick skillet and slashed those fat calories in half.

I got to taste my new version, and I found I didn't miss the deep-frying, sugar or excess oil one bit. I liked the light, heated bite from the crushed red pepper and the flavor boost from the natural, free-range chicken I'd used. And, at less than 400 calories per hefty serving, this was truly sweet-and-sour heaven.

Sweet-and-Sour Chicken Breast

6 tablespoons white vinegar (see note)

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained, reserve 6 tablespoons juice

9 packets (equivalent of 6 tablespoons sugar) artificial sweetener, such as Splenda

3 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons cornstarch

¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

6 teaspoons peanut oil, divided

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1½ pounds), trimmed

1 medium-large onion, peeled

2 sweet green peppers, core and seeds removed

1 tablespoon minced garlic (from 3 garlic cloves)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

In a small nonreactive bowl, whisk vinegar, pineapple juice, artificial sweetener, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch and red pepper flakes together until combined. Set aside.

Cut chicken breast lengthwise into ½-inch strips and then crosswise into ½-inch square pieces. Set aside.

Trim root and stem end from onion, cut in half across the center, lay cut side down and cut crosswise in half and then into quarters or sixths, repeat with remaining half. Place pieces in a small bowl. Set aside.

Quarter green peppers, cut into ½-inch strips, then cut strips into ½-inch pieces and place in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add half the chicken and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate and repeat with additional 2 teaspoons oil and remaining chicken.

Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan and when hot add onions and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add green pepper and cook, stirring often for 3 to 4 minutes or until beginning to brown slightly at the edges. Add pineapple, garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add vinegar mixture and chicken along with any accumulated chicken juices to skillet and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

Cook's notes: Use red wine vinegar for a color and flavor boost.

Substitute an equal weight of peeled, de-veined shrimp for the chicken breast and reduce the cooking time for the shrimp to 2 to 3 minutes. Serve over brown rice for added nutrition and fiber.

Nutrition values per serving: 389 calories (20.9 percent from fat), 9.1 g fat (1.7 g saturated), 34.5 g carbohydrate, 41.5 g protein, 100 mg cholesterol, 753 mg sodium.

SaltSense: Using reduced-sodium soy sauce lowers sodium per serving to 600 milligrams.