Sweet and Sour Pork (咕噜肉)

Many of the traditional Cantonese meals are well-known both domestically and internationally. Among these, Sweet and Sour Pork (咕噜肉) is a traditional Cantonese dish that must be mentioned.

The method of making this sweet and sour pork is to cut the pork and marinate and then starch. Deep fried it to make the fried meat have a crispy exterior and tender interior.  And then tossed in a sweet and sour sauce with chunks of onions, assorted bell peppers and the most unique ingredient which is “PINEAPPLE”. The taste is particularly rich because the sweet and sour pork is encased in the sauce. It is tart in addition to being crispy. The balance of fresh, salty, and sweet flavours is incredibly tasty without being greasy at all.

These days, tomato sauce or ketchup are the most often utilized sauce ingredients in this recipe. I prefer to utilize a few different sorts of ingredients that I combine to make my sauce since it has a lot more umami than ketchup. The sugar’s ideal balancing effect with the pineapples’ natural sweetness gives you the perfect balance to the sweet and sour flavor.  Taste your dish, of course, even if you are following the recipe. To change the sweetness and sourness to your preferred level, either add more sugar for sweetness or additional tomato sauce or other sauces for sourness.

I will always get my fried meat crisp and brown from double frying it. In this way, additional water can evaporate from the fried meat by allowing it to cool and rest in between dipping in the oil. You will observe that the remaining water evaporates as you put it back in the second time.

I am using pork tenderloin (里脊)for this dish. This is a milder-flavored, extremely soft, lean cut of pork. You can use pork loin(猪腰肉) too. Pork loin is a lean cut that is like tenderloin in terms of tenderness, but if it is overcooked, it becomes even drier and less tender.

Are you starting to get hungry for this delicious sweet and sour pork. Let’s get all the ingredients to hand to make this delicious cuisine.

 

INGREDIENTS

800g pork tenderloin

½ big white onion

1 mild red chili

1 green bell pepper

1 cup fresh pineapple

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp white pepper

1 egg

3-4 tbsp cornstarch for coating (add more as desire)

1 tbsp cooking oil to loosen up the pork

Some cooking for frying the pork

 

Sweet and sour sauce

2 tbsp Maggi tomato sauce

2 tbsp Maggi chili sauce

2 tbsp Maggi Thai chili sauce

1 tbsp HP sauce

3 tbsp of water.

Salt and sugar to taste

 

 

METHODS

1. Cut the onion, chili, bell pepper and fresh pineapple in 1-inch chucks

2. Cut the pork tenderloin into bite size pieces and slightly pound the pork which helps to tenderize the pork.  And marinade with soy sauce, wine, sugar and egg for at least 2 hours for tender pork or overnight.

3. Add the tapioca starch, and baking powder over the pork, gently tossed it until each piece coated with the tapioca starch. The meat will look a bit sticky at this point, add in the cooking oil help to loosen the pork.

4. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

5. Heat up the oil, carefully add the meat to the oil, fry it until golden brown. Remove from the oil.  Wait until the oil reaches the right temperature once more before placing the fried pork back in for an additional one to two minutes of double frying. This will help in producing an extremely crispy and golden outside.  Drain then set aside.

6. Over low to medium heat, sauté onion chucks in a wok with a little cooking oil for 2 minutes. Add the pre-cut red chilies, and pepper. Mix and stir thoroughly for 1-2 minutes. Avoid overcooking the vegetables.

7. Gently pour in the sauce to the vegetables, make sure to stir continuously until the sauce thickens. Add in the crispy pork and pineapples, quick stir until all the meats and pineapple chunks are well coated with the sweet and sour sauce for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Plate it and ENJOY!!

Note: Try not to over cook the crispy pork with the sauce for too long. It will make the batter turn soggy.