Asian Style Pork and Pickle Rice (WW Friendly)

Inspiration for this recipe came from my "Weight Watchers - The Complete Kitchen" book; the flavour profile came from their Asian Pork Patties with Coriander Rice but I have altered the recipe to make it less time consuming (no need to make patties) and to suit my taste. One serving is 12pp.

I would say that the weight watchers original recipe is mostly Thai flavours; mine has a slight Japanese twist in the rice.

It hits all the taste sensors - sweet and hot from the chilli sauce and spices, salty from the soy sauce and sour from the lime and vinegar. The meat gives you warmth and the pickled cucumber rice is very fresh and light.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

For the Pork
225g lean pork mince
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced lemongrass
1 teaspoon finely shredded lime rind
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
calorie controlled cooking spray
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons mango sweet chilli sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce

For the Rice
3 inches cucumber
25ml lime juice (or of half a lime)
25ml rice vinegar
120g sushi rice
180ml water

Broccoli to serve

Method - Pork 

1. Combine the minced pork, ginger, garlic, lemongrass (I use my lemongrass ready minced from a jar), lime rind and chilli powder.

2. On a medium heat soften the chopped onion in 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil (this is strongly flavoured so a little goes a long way. If you need more 'coating' to your pan, use a little calorie controlled spray oil in addition).

3. Add the seasoned minced pork and stir over the heat until the meat is cooked through.

4. Reduce the heat and add the soy sauce, lime juice and chilli sauce and simmer for a minute or two. Your pork is now ready to serve once your rice is ready.

Method - Rice

1.Slice up your cucumber into thin strips (I halved the cucumber lengthways and then sliced it on a slight angle to make elongated half slices) and marinade this in the lime juice and rice vinegar. (As I was cooking broccoli to accompany this dish, I also peeled and chopped the stalk into fine strips and added this to my pickling juice).

2. Add your rice and cold water to a heavy bottomed pan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. You can stir this, but avoid the temptation of adding more water in (the aim is for the rice to soak up all the water).

3. Turn the heat off, leave the pan covered and just let it sit for around 20 minutes. When you uncover it, it should have soaked up all the liquid and be fluffed up and really sticky

4. Drain the cucumber (leave a little of the liquid on it (a tablespoon perhaps to flavour the rice), but discard the majority) and stir gently into the rice.

Serve with steamed broccoli.

Pro points per serving for this recipe are  12pp (lean pork mince is 5pp, sweet chilli sauce is 1pp, rice is 6pp - the other ingredients are either free, or are in the recipe in such small amounts that they don't amount to a point; ie, 1/4 tsp sesame oil per serving will track as 0pp)