So as I shared when posting this recipe, I was rather nervous putting this together. This wasn't just a fond childhood dish of David's but the absolute favorite dish he's had ever made by none other than his mom. Not exactly your everyday kitchen challenge. But I had been meaning to give it a whirl so I figured no better time than Valentine's Day weekend when hopefully he was feeling some extra love. I made him walk around the entire food store with me in preparation of this meal to make sure I got the ingredients just right. I even made him call his mom to distinguish between cornflour and corn starch. Turns out, same thing. One snafu was that I assumed white wine vinegar was used instead of red wine vinegar. After a slight panic attack on David's part when he realized the mishap, we moved on and hoped it wouldn't make such a horrible difference.
I cut the pork down to cubes which was critiqued by David who went on to cut them into smaller pieces. He's a little picky about this dish to say the least. I then quickly added the ingredients and left the dish to simmer for the recommended hour. As it was cooking David reassured me by saying it smelled correctly so I figured so far so good. With about 20 minutes left to go, I put on the rice so everything would be finished at the same time. After an hour I thickened the sauce with the corn starch and added the peaches to have them cook through.
David said it was a respectful first attempt and I did a really great job. Judging by his clean plate and the leftovers taken to work, I trust his response was genuine. Given this huge undertaking, I would consider my first attempt a success! Hopefully with another 30 years of experience under my belt, I can come close to making this dish perfectly. Until then we have plenty of time to try. Happy cooking!
Joanne
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