When I think of sweet and sour pork, my mind goes to classic Chinese-American restaurants that serve terrible food. Everything seemed to be drowned in gloppy, gelatinous sauces, no matter if it was pork, beef, or chicken. Fortunately, my experience at these restaurants was decades back. I’m much wiser now!
This recipe is from Gourmet Traveler, a travel and food magazine from Australia. The recipe author is chef Tony Tan.
From the website: “Tony was born on the east coast of Malaysia into a restaurant-owning family. He completed his formal training as a chef in Australia and in France at La Varenne. Since then Tony has become a prominent figure in Australian culinary circles, first on the Sydney scene and more recently in Melbourne.”
From Tony: “For many Chinese people, especially those from Guangzhou province, sweet and sour pork is a memorable part of their childhood. A dish that speaks of nostalgia and comfort, it’s universally loved by my Chinese friends and by me. So I was shocked when some of my Aussie friends said it was stodgy and unpalatable.”
Well I can relate. Fortunately, this recipe was great! It’s quite involved, but worth the effort.
Sweet and Sour Pork
1/4 of a small fresh pineapple
1 small onion
1 firm tomato
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 spring onion
2 – 3 long red chile peppers, seeded (I could only find green)
2 garlic cloves
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1/2 cup potato flour, plus 1 tsp extra
1/2 cup rice flour
Steamed or fried rice, to serve
Marinated pork
1 scant teaspoon five-spice powder
2 teaspoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon ginger juice (squeezed from 2 tbsp finely grated ginger)
1 egg, beaten
1 pound pork neck (I used pork loin)
Sweet and sour sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon caster sugar, or to taste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tsp light soy
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
For marinated pork, combine five-spice, light soy, Shaoxing wine, ginger juice, egg and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
Cut pork into 1/2” pieces, add to marinade and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to marinate (15 minutes or overnight; if marinating overnight, mix in egg just before cooking).
For sweet and sour sauce, mix ingredients in a bowl, and season to taste with sugar and vinegar.
Cut pineapple into bite-sized pieces, cut onion and tomato into wedges, thinly slice capsicums, cut spring onion into batons, thinly slice chillies, finely chop garlic and set aside separately on a tray.
Heat oil in a wok. Combine flours in a bowl, add pork cubes and toss to coat, then deep-fry in batches until browned and crisp (2-3 minutes; be careful, hot oil will spit). Remove pork with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat if desired for a crisper texture. Reserve oil in a heatproof container.
Wipe wok with paper towels, then heat 1 tbsp frying oil. When hot, add onion, chilli and garlic, and stir-fry until onion starts to colour (30 seconds).
Add capsicum and pineapple, and stir-fry until well combined (20 seconds).
Add sweet and sour sauce, bring to the boil, then add spring onion and tomato, and stir-fry until warmed through (30-40 seconds).
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Meanwhile, combine extra potato flour with 1 tbsp cold water and stir into boiling sauce to thicken. Season to taste.
Return pork to wok to warm through (1-2 minutes).
Serve with rice.
As I wrote, this was delicious.
I will use this recipe again, but I won’t bother deep-frying the pork. This time I wanted to honor the original recipe.