Sweet, Sour & (Slightly) Spicy Pork

mycookinghut May 30, 2008
sweet-sour-pork

Thank God it’s Friday! I’m sure you feel the same way too! What bothers me is the weather, it doesn’t seem to have improved. Looks like we had only a week of good sunny days and that was probably weeks ago. I hope the sun will come out and play soon!

Back in the kitchen, I was trying to gather all the ingredients that I needed for the dish that I had been wanting to make (also had been craving to have) – Sweet and Sour Pork, slightly spicy. I do like some sweet and sour dishes but not from some of the Chinese restaurants though. Most of them use the same kind of same ‘off the shelf’ sauce that looks to have too much food colouring and tastes too sweet.

I know I would be disappointed if it’s not up to my taste. So, I usually don’t order sweet and sour dishes when I go to Chinese restaurants. In fact, I go to Chinese restaurants mostly for Dim Sum. My favourite? Still, it’s Yauatcha. I have been there for several times and tried different things and I think this is the BEST Chinese restaurant on my list for Dim Sum.

Talking about Yauatcha , when Arnaud’s mom was in London, we went for Dim Sum and that was when she had her first Yum Cha experience. She wasn’t sure if she would like them. But, after some explanations and descriptions, she decided to give it a try. Did she like it? Of course, she does! (Who doesn’t? hehehe..)

Right, let me bring myself back on track. I was talking about Sweet and Sour Pork, hey? So, what makes my sweet & sour pork recipe different? Well, it’s just the sauce that I make tastes better (it’s not only sweet and sour but Sweet, Sour and slight Spicy) and I don’t use any sort of food colouring.

Probably Chinese Takeaways are just a few blocks away. But, try to make this sweet & sour pork once and see which one you prefer. It doesn’t take you long to cook. To serve it with rice, just let the rice cook in the rice cooker (if you have one) or in a saucepan while preparing this dish. Now, let’s dash to the kitchen and start cooking!

Sweet, Sour & (slightly) Spicy Pork

Yield: 4 persons

Ingredients:

300g sunflower oil
300g pork loin, cut into chunky cubes
1 tbsp cornflour
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges
half red pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
half cucumber, diced
2 pineapple slices
2 spring onions, cut into 5cm length
white ground pepper

Seasoning:
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp chilli sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp corn flour
3 tbsp water

Method:

1. Heat up the sunflower oil in a wok. Meanwhile, season the pork with a pinch of ground white pepper and lightly coat with cornflour. Make sure the oil is hot, his can usually be done by putting in a wooden chopstick in the oil and if bubbles form around it, then it’s hot enough.

2. Fry the pork in batches until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper. Repeat for the rest of the pork. Set aside.

3. Put 1 tsp of the oil from the wok in a pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onion, cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Then, add the red pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes until becoming soft. Tip in the chopped tomatoes after 2-3 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients for the seasoning in a bowl. Pour the mixture in the pan, stir and bring to the boil. Add the cucumber, pineapple, spring onion and the cooked pork. Give it a good stir for 2-3 minutes so that the sauce coat evenly on the pork and other ingredients. Serve warm with boiled rice.