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Pork sauce with pickles and potatoes in a frying pan

Skillet Pork Azu with Pickles and Potatoes

A family dinner or main dish from simple ingredients! Skillet pork azu with pickles and potatoes is a take on the Tatar dish of meat braised with potatoes. The classic version uses beef, lamb, or horse meat, but our pork version is delicious too!

Maria

Recipe author

Pork sauce with pickles and potatoes in a frying pan

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pork

500

Potatoes

300

Pickle brine

100

Water

150

Dill pickles

Garlic

Bay leaf

Tomato paste

Vegetable oil

Ground black pepper

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 32 % 6 g

Fats 42 % 8 g

Carbohydrates 26 % 5 g

111 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make skillet pork azu with pickles and potatoes? Gather your ingredients. It doesn't matter which cut of pork you use, since it'll turn tender as it cooks. Barrel-fermented pickles taste best here, but jarred pickles will do in a pinch. You can swap the tomato paste for chopped fresh tomatoes, and add carrot and onion if you like.
Step 2:

Stir the tomato paste into the pickle brine until smooth. If you're using fresh tomatoes, grate them on the coarse holes first, then mix in the brine.
Step 3:

If the pork was frozen, thaw it first by moving it from the freezer to the bottom shelf of the fridge. Wash the thawed meat and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut it into small strips.
Step 4:

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut them into strips about the same size as the pork.
Step 5:

Cut the pickles into strips the same way.
Step 6:

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat and, stirring, fry the pork until golden.
Step 7:

Add the potatoes to the pan with the meat. Cook everything together, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
Step 8:

Add the pickles to the pan and stir.
Step 9:

Then pour the tomato-brine mixture and the water into the pan with the meat and vegetables. Add the bay leaf and ground pepper.
Step 10:

Stir everything together well. Cover the pan and simmer the azu over low heat for 20–25 minutes.
Step 11:

Right at the end, add the garlic put through a press. You don't have to salt this dish, since the tomato paste, brine, and pickles bring plenty of salt. Either way, taste it and decide for yourself. Stir the azu and take it off the heat.

For more kick, add some chopped fresh chili or a pinch of ground chili. You can make this dish in big batches, since it disappears from the table fast — kids and adults alike love it. It's filling too, with both the meat and a vegetable side built right in.
Use a high-smoke-point oil for frying. Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds. Unrefined oils generally have a low smoke point, while refined oils hold up to heat much better. For frying, roasting, or grilling, reach for a refined oil such as sunflower, olive, or grapeseed.
You can swap the tomato paste for canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, or ketchup.
For the best results, use filtered or bottled water with a neutral taste. Tap water can give the dish an off, characteristic aftertaste.