Whenever in doubt of what to order at a new restaurant, I find myself reverting back to familiarity. Sweet and sour pork is a staple in any Chinese restaurant. A “safety first” option, since I am certain everyone is fond of it, especially kids.
Honestly, this dish is the complete package. A wholesome dish that can be eaten on its own or with a bowl of rice. A dish that is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Tangy, sweet, savory, refreshing, it ticks all the right boxes. If there is one pork dish to have up your sleeve in the kitchen, it has to be this.
Not only is sweet and sour pork a quick dish to cook, it also uses fairly basic ingredients. What you see in the spread below is all you need. Just a bit of cutting and you are all set. Cut the pork against the grain so that it will be easier to chew. Also, as the meat shrinks a little when deep fried, you should cut the chunks slightly larger than you picture it.
Deep frying the pork to crisp perfection
Opting for rice flour dusting as oppose to regular flour helps crisps up the exterior even more. An important tip when deep frying is to make sure the pieces of pork are coated entirely with the batter and flour. The idea is to give it a full, even layer casing. Otherwise, the juices of the meat would just seep out and dry up the meat. Double frying pork will ensure you get a nice crunch.
Ideally, you would want to use pork belly for this, as it has a good fat to meat ratio. Remember to trim off the skin, otherwise it will be rubbery once fried.
The best accompaniment to deep fried meat is a tangy sauce with an array of fresh vegetables to cut the grease.
The choice of vegetables is up to you. I often opt for the usual capsicum, onion, and cucumber combo. Not only does it give a balance of texture to the dish, but it helps liven up the plate with a beautiful medley of colors.
I like to add some bite size fruit in as well, either fresh or canned. A personal favorite addition of mine is to add canned lychee into my sweet and sour pork, along with some of the liquid. I love how it adds an extra dimension of sweetness to the dish. It can be substituted with pineapple or honeydew.
Along with a bowl of rice, this sweet and sour pork is all I need. A simple dinner in a jiffy, hope you will give it a go.
Here’s a quick video to demonstrate how I cook my favourite childhood dish that I still love to this day:
Chunks of succulent meat deep fried to crisp perfection, then coated in tangy tomato sauce. The addition of lychee adds a sweet juicy finish to the dish!
Remove skin off pork belly and cut meat into bite sized pieces.
Mix potato/corn starch with water to make into starch flurry and mix with all of the ingredients to season pork belly.
Coat each piece of pork belly in rice flour.
Heat up a pan with hot boiling oil, then deep fry coated pork belly. Work in 2-3 batches if required to ensure you do not overcrowd the pan.
Remove when pieces are golden brown. Set aside on draining rack.
If you like really crunchy pork pieces, I highly recommend double frying the pork pieces. For this additional step, when sauce is almost done, deep fry pork pieces in hot oil for 1-2 minutes, drain and mix into sauce.
Vegetables
Vegetable portions in recipe above can be adjusted to suit your family's preference.
Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil, and saute garlic and onion until fragrant. Add in all other vegetables and saute for 2-3 minutes until 80% cooked. Remove and set aside.
Sauce
Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour into wok. Bring to boil to thicken sauce.
Return cooked vegetables to the sauce, saute quickly to coat in sauce.
Add lychee pieces, give it a quick stir.
Finally add pork and stir to coat well. Serve immediately with white rice!
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A Chinese stir-fry dish made with juicy pieces of pork tenderloin, bell peppers, onion, and pineapple. Battered pork gets fried until crispy then tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce.
It consists of small pieces of deep-fried pork and sliced water chestnuts served in a sweet and sour sauce. Its bright red colour is derived from red yeast rice. In unsophisticated establishments, the sauce is commonly made with ketchup, soy sauce and rice vinegar.
How do you make sweet and sour pork red? Restaurants often put a drop of red food coloring to brighten up the color of the dish. You can add this when mixing the sauce. If you don't mind a more natural color, the sauce will get its color from the ketchup and brown sugar.
How do you tenderise pork for stir fry? Velveting is a Chinese technique that helps keep meat tender during stir frying. Adding cornstarch and bicarb to your meat during the marinating process helps to coat your meat, giving it a velvety feel that makes the meat feel extra soft.
You can slow cook it in a slow cooker or oven at a low temperature for several hours until it's fully cooked and tender. This will help break down the tough connective tissues and collagen in the meat, resulting in a succulent and tender pork belly. Braising: Braising is another method that works well for pork belly.
Lychees are primarily composed of water and carbs, most of which are sugars. Compared to many other fruits, they're low in fiber. They're also high in vitamin C and offer decent amounts of copper and potassium.
The most important question: What does lychee taste like? The aromatic lychee is sweet, with slightly floral and acidic notes. Upon biting, you'll get a juicy flavor burst with a taste similar to a strawberry or pear with a hint of citrus. Some also compare the floral taste to rose.
The litchi (or lychee) fruit is native to China and is extensively cultivated in warm tropical climates of Malaysia, Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Japan.
Sweet and sour pork is a Chinese dish particularly popular in Westernised Cantonese cuisine and may be found worldwide. Several provinces in China produce various dishes that claim to be the ancestor, including a traditional Jiangsu dish called “pork in a sugar and vinegar sauce” (糖醋里脊; pinyin: táng cù lǐjǐ).
But one thing is for sure and that is that the dish originated in China, took a journey around the world and came back to Hong Kong stronger than ever. “It actually evolved from a dish made with spare ribs braised in sugar and vinegar. It was a Shanghainese dish that used to be served to the emperor.
The Sweet and Sour Pork that's always seen in Chinese restaurants in America or Europe, the one with pineapple, is called 咕噜肉 (pinyin: gu lu rou), which is a southern Chinese/ Cantonese dish.
It typically serves up 16 teaspoons of sugar, about the same amount in 3 chocolate bars. If that isn't bad enough, the syrupy sauce coats chunks of deep-fried pork.
Sweet and sour pork is the most entry-level of Chinese dishes. Few people, young or old, can resist the combination of deep-fried cuts of meat cloaked with that enticingly tangy sauce. The origins of this dish, however, are a bit murky because there are several lines of evolution.
Well, virtually any cut is used overall in Chinese cooking, but in common take away, usually it's pretty common cuts that would be used. More often than not, it's the cheapest cuts like flank or hanger steak, or loin or butt meat from the pork or beef.
It typically serves up 16 teaspoons of sugar, about the same amount in 3 chocolate bars. If that isn't bad enough, the syrupy sauce coats chunks of deep-fried pork. Even if you split this entree with someone, you're still likely to get more than 800 calories and 48 grams of fat.
Soy sauce, honey, ketchup, and brown sugar create the base of the luscious marinade, while hoisin sauce and red bean curd add depth. Juicy pork tenderloin is the main event of this 5-star recipe. Choose two 1 lb. tenderloins for best results, substituting pork loin or pork chops if necessary.
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