Sweet and sour pork
Sweet and sour pork with this homemade sweet and sour sauce is just fantastic. I often have sweet and sour pork at Chinese restaurans but prefer strips of meat as opposed to cubes which seem to be most popular in Chinese retstaurants. The meat is thinner, more tender and is cooked in hot oil which makes the batter crisp. (2 servings on it’s own or 4 servings with another dish like the lemon and ginger chicken)
What you need
500g lean pork cut into strips 1/2cm wide
1 egg white lightly beaten
Pinch black pepper
4 tablespoons maizena/cornflour
2 tablespoons oil
Sweet and sour sauce
3 tablespoons All Gold tomato sauce
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tomatoes chopped
150g tinned pineapple pieces
4 tablespoons pineapple juice from the tin
2 teaspoons sugar
200ml water
2 green peppers chopped
1 small onion chopped
4 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons maizena mixed with 5 tablespoons water
The process
heat the oil on medium to high in a pan or wok, if you are using a pan add a little extra oil.
Place the maizena in a separate bowl. Beat the egg white and the pepper together and dip each piece of pork nto the egg white, give it a shake and then into the maizena, give it another shake to remove any excess maizena.
Cook the pork for about a minute or so on each side until they are nicely browned. Remove the pieces that are done and then add all of them back to the wok and give them a toss around in the wok to heat up and cook through properly, (about 2 minutes) and remove from the pan and place into a serving bowl.
Now add all of the sweet and sour sauce ingredients to a pot except the maizena mixture, bring to the boil and allow to simmer for about 1 minute. Turn down the heat to low, add the maizena mixture and stir until nicely thickened and glossy. This should not take more than 2 or 3 minutes.
Pour the sauce over the pork and serve with egg fried rice. YUMMY I tell you.
First time I have come across this wow this is so awesome just makes me eant to cook!!! what I love to do… Thank you so much G
Fantastic Jessica, so glad you found us, have fun G
Hi Graham,
Could I make this a day before (for bookclub) as I am pressed for time? Worried about how to heat it up? Would also like to do the lemon & ginger chicken, heating up the next day?
Thanks,
Michelle
Hi Michelle, what you can do is prepare the sauces beforehand and then do the pork/chicken shortly before you serve. I don’t think the meat will be great kept overnight and reheated. Cheers G
Going to try this on friday, Tell me r u South African? Noticed, maizena, all gold tomato sauce?
Hi Tersha, South African through and through.. Have a lekker weekend G
Graham, i am looking for a cape malay donut/ koeksister, u know the one with the coconut?
I am South African too living between Canada and Puerto Vallarta
Hi Tersha, sorry for the late reply, I have been holidaying in Cape Town after a really busy year. I have never made them but here is a brilliant looking recipe.
http://blog.getaway.co.za/food/easy-koeksisters-recipe/
Happy holidays, G
Thanyou very much Graham, 1 Q, 1pkt yeast = what? in teaspoons please?
Have a blessed, merry, joyful, peaceful and” tables laden with amazing food “christmas
Hi Tersha, sorry for the late reply, been on holiday 🙂 each packet is 10g which relates to a little over 2 teaspoons(2.1 teaspoons) and you have a fabulous Xmas too, G
Graham
I am looking for a recipe for cape malay donuts. The ones with coconut and anise?
Do you have a recipe? I would appreciate it if you could post one please.
I so miss sunday mornings in Cape Town and our next door neighnour Mrs Lippert who used to make them, so soft and yummy
Hi there, see my previous comment, G
Thanks for the reply Graham. I did the colander thing. However I must admit, my oil was not hot enough and i think i put too much pork in at once. Definitively going to do it again, will update soon. Lizelle
Thanks Lizelle, too many pieces at once will definitely lower the temp too quickly, have a great one G
Hi Graham
My sauce came out fantastic. I took a biggish piece of fresh ginger and (peeled) and let it cook in the pot while the sauce was cooking, at the end I through the ginger away as the ginger flavor had all gone into the sauce taste. I left out the onions and peppers added a bit more sugar and generally played with it, the outcome was fantastic
Graham I was not too happy about the pork batter, don’t get me wrong the taste was sensational just the batter was not crispy enough for me. Help……… Keep it up awesome awesome aswesome
Hi Lizelle, that sauce method sounds perfect and as for the batter, what I sometimes do to keep them crisp is let them drain in a collander/sieve and not on kitchen paper but of course once they are doused with sauce they will soften up. Experiment with your oil temperature a bit, you don’t want it smoking hot. Enjoy the day off tomorrow G