When I was a kid, one of the few take-out meals that we had with occasional regularity (by which I mean that we rarely had take-out at all) was Chinese food.   Being a proper fusspot, I didn't like most of the dishes in the set meals, which were what my parents naturally bought, having three kids and a limited budget.   However, when we went to Montreal, we nearly always had Chinese food; and they had there a dish called “sweet and sour” which I adored.   Somehow, though, when we bought it in Toronto, the stuff that arrived was always something different, with bits of pork in batter, covered in an insipid pinkish orange sauce.   It took a while before we realized that the problem was simply terminological:   in Toronto, the dish we all loved (even me!) was called “honey garlic spareribs”.
        In fact, it was so popular that my mother devised her own version.   It was not, however, made with honey.   Honey is relatively expensive.   Instead, she substituted brown sugar.   She also diced up cheap pork, rather than spend good money on bone.   So her recipe tastes rather different from the restaurant dish.
        Nowadays, of course, one can buy honey garlic sauce ready made in jars at the supermarket.   And I sometimes use that, since it's very tasty.   However, I also sometimes make my mother's version.   As I said, it's rather different, and just as nice in its own way.

Ingredients

Directions

Preparing the Meat
Cut the pork into cubes.   (If you are using cheap pork chops, remove the bone before dicing the meat.)   Brown the meat in a frying pan.

Making the Sauce
Mix the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and minced garlic in a bowl.

Cooking
Drain the fat from the frying pan.   Pour in the sauce.   Bring to the boil, and simmer for about ten minutes, spooning the sauce over the meat.   Be careful not to scorch it.

Serving
Serve with plain boiled rice.   I generally put the sweet and sour on the side, and spoon a little of the sauce over the rice.   And, I should add, a little of the sauce goes a long way to flavour the rice, so be careful.

Makes four servings.