Sweet & Sour Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork (Sept 2011)

Sweet & Sour Pork, I believe, is the most well-knowned Chinese dish in the world. I think it's the combination of tangy tomato sauce & crispy yet tender meat that makes the dish so acceptable. As for me, I love the Malaysian version of the dish. The meat is coated with a light batter and the tomato based sauce is just enough to cover the pork, thus no soggy meat at the end of the meal! (if there's any left!)

The dish by itself looks easy enough to prepare but it's not! It takes a lot of effort to make a good sweet and sour pork. So much thought goes into this simpleton's dish for instance the type of meat to use, what makes of a light frying batter or even the amount of vinegar or wine infused into the sauce. There's no need to follow the recipe to the point.... improvise, make the dish your own!

Deep fried pork

 Sweet & Sour Pork Recipe:


Ingredient:
300g tenderloin pork (enough for 2 person)


Marinade:
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp of Shao Hsing wine
1 tsp corn flour

Frying Batter:
1 cup of water
1 small egg
1 cup of plain flour
2 tbsp of cornflour (some like to use rice flour to get the crunchiness)
A pinch of salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup of ketchup
1 tbsp white vinegar / rice vinegar
1 tsp of oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar (to balance the vinegar)
salt to taste
2 tomato
Handful of cucumber
Handful of pineapple
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp of chopped garlic

Method:

1. Slice pork into 1/2 cm thick bite size. Marinade for at least 1/2 hour before frying. 
2. Make batter to thick consistency. by adding water gradually. The batter should feel like thick syrup not watery. Dip meat in batter.
3. Heat up oil in wok till smoky, reduce heat slightly before dropping the meat in to fry.
4. When turning golden brown, remove meat from wok and drain off any excess oil. Now the trick! Leave the pork to cool down slightly before dipping it back into hot oil for a few seconds. 
5. Heat up a tbsp of oil. Fry chopped garlic. Add all vegetables followed by the rest of ingredients and stir fry on high fire. Once you are satisfied with the taste, switch off the stove and stir in fried pork till well coated.