Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork is one of my most popular recipes here on Foodie with Family. Read on to see why!
It’s no secret that food is my forever friend. It’s pretty easy to get me to hold forth on the subject in general, obviously.
I am especially passionate about that sub-category of food made of simple recipes using basic ingredients that deliver major flavours with minimal effort. Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork is all of those things.
I want to clarify for a minute. There are two schools of thought on describing a food as ‘easy’.
Some folks think it’s gauche because using it perpetuates the false notion that somehow good food has to be complicated. I get it, I really do.
At the same time, I think that reminding people that a dish is “easy” is a kindness and a comfort. It’s like having a favourite pair of jeans that you put on when you need to have a good day.
The word “easy” is a reassuring one. It tells you you won’t be chained to the counter for hours upon hours or employing complex techniques that are more suited to angry French chefs who are prone to throwing pots.
For that reason, I’m unapologetic about calling recipes ‘Easy”. Easy, easy, easy, easy, E-A-S-Y. Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Pork is a perfect example of what I mean.
If I called it sweet and spicy lacquered pork, I’d technically be correct, but I’d also be intimidating the heck out of starter cooks.
And the truth of the matter is that Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Pork is nuanced enough to keep a sophisticated eater and cook happy, but simple enough that even the most rookie cook can make it happen for a fast dinner. THAT is my happy place.
Tender strips of pork glazed with a sticky, sweet, spicy, garlicky, gingery sauce that is as easy as stirring a few things together in a pan, it’s hard to beat this for a fast, soul-satisfying meal.
What Kind of Honey Should I Use for Sticky Pork?
This is a pretty common question with a very simple answer: use a mild honey.Whichever light coloured honey you like best will serve here.
Whether you choose the stuff in the squeeze bottle shaped like a bear, or a bottle of light amber or golden coloured stuff from your favourite farmer’s market vendor, just go light as a rule of thumb. In other words, put the bamboo honey aside for this dish.
While strong flavoured honeys are delicious on their own or to finish a dish, you’re going to be concentrating the flavour of the honey when you reduce the sauce. A strong, robust honey like bamboo will bring too much of its own flavour to the party.
Which Cut of Pork Should I use for Stir Fry?
Again, this is a matter of personal preference, but I love boneless center cut loin or boneless sirloin steaks for our Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork. Of the two, I usually reach for boneless center cut loin, because I love the leaner cut.
I don’t advise using a super marbled cut like shoulder because that will require far longer to cook than this recipe provides.
Pork Recipes
While Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork is one of my favourites, I have many other easy pork recipes for your table, too.
Whether you’re using ground pork in Easy Garlic Ginger Crispy Pork Noodles or Egg Roll in a Bowl or making slow-cooker apple cider pulled pork, we’ve got you covered. If you want to know how to cook pork and which cuts to use, that’s here, too.
If you need help on learning how to cook pork shoulder, it’s all right there for you. Check out all of our pork recipes in our recipe index at your leisure!
Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork
-As with many stir-fries -and this could be considered one- Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork relies on the cook having everything prepared and set out before any flame or heat source comes anywhere near the pan. The bulk of the work comes before you ever put one molecule of anything in the pan.
-The goal with cooking the pork is to take it to being 2/3 done. This means that if you cut one strip of pork in half, you’ll be able to see the outer layer is lightly browned, the next 1/3 of it will be pink but opaque and the center should be slightly shimmery and darker pink.
It will continue cooking when the sauce comes into play. If you take the pork too far at this point, it’ll be overdone when the sticky, flavourful glaze is lacquering itself to the pork. See what I did there? I worked in those fancy-pants culinary terms to placate my purists. Who loves you? I do.
-Do not add the pork until you have reduced the sauce. This is the same motivation behind moving the pork to a plate and starting the sauce by itself. Sometimes it behaves a little oddly, and until it reaches a certain point (slightly thickened, bubbly, and smelling slightly caramelized), you don’t want to add the pork.
The pork strips will finish cooking in the sauce, but it’s easier to add a splash of liquid to keep it cooking longer than it is to make the sauce magically evaporate to doneness because your pork is done.
Trust me. If there was a way to abracadabra the sauce to doneness, I’d be all over it.
But this bears repeating: This sauce is meant to be reduced until it is already thick BEFORE you add the pork back in. If you do that, you won’t end up with too much sauce or a soupy mess.
When the sauce is boiled until it has evaporated down to a thick, sticky, shiny, state, you add the pork in and toss it. It’s worth the little bit of wait.
-You can serve Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork any which way you wish; over rice, with green vegetables, on noodles, or with toothpicks as finger foods. My personal preference is with steamed or Spicy Asian Roasted Broccoli over rice.
Use this to make Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork
Connect with Foodie with Family
facebook | pinterest | instagram|twitter
Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless center cut pork loin cut into 1/4-inch thick slabs, then 1/4-inch thick strips, about 3 inches long
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola or peanut oil plus extra if necessary
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 2- inch knob of fresh ginger grated
- 1/2 cup mild honey
- 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup sriracha or chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mild honey, sriracha, and rice wine vinegar. Set aside.
- Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and swirl to coat. Let it heat until it is shimmering. While the oil heats, sprinkle the pork strips with kosher salt and black pepper then toss with your hands to distribute it evenly. Carefully add the pork to the pan, working in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Let the first side brown, flip the pieces with tongs or a spatula, and brown the second side. Transfer the pork to a plate.
- Return the pan to the heat and add in the garlic and ginger. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Raise the heat to high and pour in the sauce mixture and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When the sauce is very bubbly and thickened like warm honey, toss the pork back in and toss constantly to coat everything and reduce the sauce to a thick, sticky glaze on the pork. This can be served immediately over rice, noodles, or as finger food, or can be allowed to cool and be eaten cold.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and #hashtag it #foodiewithfamily so I can check it out!
This post was originally published July 22, 2015. Updated April 2017 with video and improved Cook’s Notes. Republished January 1, 2021.
Reader's Thoughts...
John Weir says
looks good, but what about the broccoli??
Rebecca says
Hi John- That broccoli in the recipe is the broccoli in this link Spicy Asian Broccoli and it is delicious!
Phyllis Cox says
I don’t have fresh ginger knob, may I substitute powdered ginger (McCormack) instead and how much?
Rebecca says
Hi Phyllis! Powdered ginger is not a great substitute for fresh ginger, as it lacks some of the fiery flavour. I’d recommend using refrigerated ginger paste (about 2 tablespoons) or partially dried ginger sold in the produce section as a second best option. If you can’t lay your hands on either of those, you can play around with the powdered ginger, but potency will vary greatly depending on the age of the powdered ginger. I haven’t tried that myself, though, so that will be new territory. 🙂 I’ve found quite a range of answers online from 1/8 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger for each tablespoon of fresh ginger, so I think you might want to play around with it a bit. 🙂
Lynn says
Great recipe but with shoulder pieces would be wonderful! Pork without fat is NOT pork! Pork fat is good fat. Try it people, you won’t regret it.
Becky says
This is SO GOOD. I used our leftover pork tenderloin and my family wolfed it down. My 12yo daughter thought it would be better less spicy so next time I’ll cut the sriracha in half and put the bottle out for the rest of the family to add to taste. Definitely adding this to the rotation.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you love it, Becky!! I so appreciate it!
Catherine Clark says
This was great! I did “velvet” the pork strips before I cooked them and I think it helped to keep them tender. It’s a bit more work but worth it, I think.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you love it, Catherine! And I’ll second the velveting being time consuming/worth it… but just know that on crazy nights, you can skip it and not be very sad. 🙂
Herman says
Brilianto
Erin Lair says
Could you use this sauce and put it over pulled pork? If I slow cook a loin roast and pull it, would this work as a pulled dish over rice?
Rebecca says
You betcha, Erin! I think it would taste delicious. It’d definitely be a non-traditional pulled pork “dressing” but it would sure be tasty.
Keira says
Made the recipe for 2 but my browser refreshed so I accidentally used 2 TBS of chilli sauce, was still delicious if a little spicy, quick easy and delicious, already made another batch for tomorrow
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you loved it, Keira! That spicy little slip up actually sounds delicious to me. 🙂
Matt says
Looks like a very tasty recipe! I’m just learning about velveting meat, and wonder if you’d recommend it as part of a less-easy version of this recipe?
Rebecca says
Hi Matt- If you’d like to up the game on this recipe a bit, velveting the pork pieces and frying them separately would definitely do that! You’d have an end result a bit more like you’d get in a Chinese restaurant that way! Great question!
Pam says
Absolutely awesome finger licking good!!!
Rebecca says
Thank you so much, Pam!
JimmyB says
I made this last night and it was delicious! My picky eater seemed a bit confused on a response. I used left over pork roast so was able to skip the first step. I started grating some ginger but seemed to be getting nowhere fast so took the knob and put it and the garlic into a food processor. That worked quite well. I sautéed the garlic and ginger in a TBLS of sesame oil thinking that might add a bit of Asian flavor. After that I poured the sauce in the pan. I am unable to eat really spicy things so substituted 3 TBLS sweet chili sauce for the sriracha. I kept the heat on medium as I don’t like to subject my pans to high heat and it came to a boil very quickly. Not sure of the exact time but think I cooked it for around 20 minutes and it seemed to be about the right thickness. I noticed some concerns with lightness of color and not getting as thick as expected. The sauce does get darker looking when served on a plate and thickens more as it cools. Added the pork strips and stirred until coated overall. Served it over Chinese Lo Mein noodles with some steamed broccoli. Next time I cook this I am thinking of heating the sauce in the microwave so I have less stirring to do? Highly recommended as an EZ and low # of ingredients tasty recipe. Thanks for posting!
Rebecca says
Thanks for taking the time to let me know you love it, JimmyB and letting me know some of the alterations you made. 🙂 Are you using non-stick pans? Is that why you’re keeping it to medium? Did your picky eater end up liking it?
JimmyB says
Yes, Blue Diamond. I was surprised at how quickly and how robust of a boil it was at only medium heat. I think the consistency of the sauce was a bit disconcerting. Not so much a case of dislike but foreign. Something new (Gasp!)
I was picking though my freezer after sending my review and noticed some pot stickers. I think this sauce would be a delicious dip or topping for them, just keeping the sauce a bit thinner for that use. Will let you know. Thanks for your nice reply.
Rebecca says
I’ve been blogging long enough that I still see blogs as conversations with readers 🤣🤣
And that sounds delicious on potstickers (if the bottoms are browned first, of course. 👍🏻)
Chris says
Not good
Lucille says
This recipe was really good! I used chili garlic paste instead of Siracha.
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you liked it, Lucille! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know!
Amanda says
Is it okay if I just use regular white vinegar? I live in a small community and there’s no rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
Rebecca says
Hey Amanda- Go for it! Or maybe cider vinegar? I think it tastes a little milder than white vinegar. If you ever get the chance to pick up rice vinegar or white wine vinegar, you should try it that way, though! 🙂 (I also live in a very small, rural community and have been known to mail order ingredients when desperate. HAHA)
Pat says
Made this for dinner tonight. Looked beautiful, but tasted🥵.After reviewing the recipe, I realized that I had put 1/4 CUP of Siracha sauce!! Our mouths are still burning.
Will try to make it again in the future, but with 1Tablespoon of Siracha
Rebecca says
Wahooooooo! I bet that was toasty! 🙂
Brandon Blackeye says
I made this for my mother last night, she absolutely loved it! Very easy to cook with amazing results!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you and your mother loved it, Brandon!
Ramona Campbell says
It was the night for Chinese…I have a wonton recipe, I have a Fried Rice recipe, I needed something to do with the rest of the pork loin, and it had to fit on the already crowded stovetop. This recipe of yours fit the bill, easily adjusted for a smaller amount of meat, and turned out just delicious. Thank you!!!
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you liked it, Ramona! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. 🙂
Sauce man says
Why not thicken the rice with corn stars and water instead of waiting forever for it to reduce?
Rebecca says
Hi there. The reason you don’t do that in this recipe is that you’re developing a glaze and flavour. Cornstarch and water would indeed thicken it, but it would make the sauce far less flavourful and intense. It would also make for a completely different texture.
Bobbie Shiers says
I’ve never used ginger root. Could you tell me about how much in grams or Tablespoons a 2” knob would be?
Rebecca says
Hi Bobbie- You’d be looking at about a tablespoon of fresh grated ginger, give or take a bit. 🙂
Penny says
I can see where this recipe is coming from but if you are going to go for the ease of use of store bought sriracha, you should also go for the ease of store bought ginger garlic paste. The dish also requires the pork to be marinated in light & dark soy sauce, sherry/chinese wine, garlic and ginger to add depth to the flavour and colour of the dish. Otherwise, very nice but not mind blowing
Rebecca says
Hi Penny- The beauty of cooking is the ability to tailor things to our own tastes. I prefer fresh grated ginger and love store bought sriracha. And this is a quick-and-easy meal in my book (even with grated fresh ginger) that does not require marinating. If you’re going full on lacquered pork, feel free to do all of that other flavour building, but this is delicious and flavourful as a quick meal as it is.