Recently I have joined the slow cooker fan club and I’ve been trying about every slow cooker recipe I can get my hands on. Five Spice Pork with Sugar Snap Peas may be my favorite slow cooker recipe to date.
I made a few alterations to the recipe from Fine Cooking
Magazine. I reduced the amount of water added from 1/2 a cup to 1/4 of a cup. Meats give off so much liquid in the slow cooker and there’s no way for it to evaporate, so I don’t feel like there is a need to add but a little water. I also added a tablespoon or 2 of Wondra at the end to thicken the sauce up a bit. Wondra is a specially treated flour that dissolves easily in liquids without clumping.
I browned the meat first in a skillet. This step is not necessary, but I do think it adds flavor and makes the meat more visually appealing. I used dry Sherry instead of the Shaoxing, which is an ingredient I’ve never used before. Normally, I jump at the chance to try a new ingredient, but I’ve had a bottle of Sherry taking up valuable real estate in my refrigerator for several months now.
You could definitely sub snow peas for the sugar snap peas, but I much prefer the taste of the sugar snaps.
Slow Cooker Five Spice Pork makes a wonderful meal when you are tired of the same old boring meals. The flavor is unique and delicious!
More Awesome Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooked Spice-Rubbed Chicken
Slow Cooker Five Spice Pork with Sugar Snap Peas
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Shaoxing Chinese Rice Vinegar or dry sherry
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili sauce, such as Sriracha
- 2 large cloves garlic,, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder,, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoons Wondra
- 1/2 pound sugar snap peas,, trimmed
Instructions
- In a 5 to 6-quart slow cooker, combine Shaoxing, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili suace, garlic, ginger, five spice powder, and 1/4 cup water.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dab as much moisture off pork with paper towels as possible. Season with salt and pepper. Place in skillet and lightly brown on both sides.
- Place pork in slow cooker and coat with sauce. Cover and cook 4 to 5 hours on high or 6 to 7 hours on low.
- Stir in Wondra and sugar snap peas and cook until peas are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Source: adapted from Fine Cooking
Disclosure: Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
I haven’t been using my slow cooker lately. I need to get on that!
Love this new space of yours.
Thank you Joan! I fell like I was late to get on the slow cooker bandwagon and I need to make up for lost time. I’ve been pinning slow cooker recipes like crazy.
Great looking new blog!
Thanks Julia! It’s definitely a work in progress!