My Oh So Little Twist On Sweet And Sour Pork Food

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Steps:

• Mix Pork with Marinade. Marinade 18 to 24 hours. (See Note 1 for marinating time for other cuts)
• Rack & warm oven: Preheat oven to 80°C/175°F and place rack on tray - to keep pork warm.
• Sauce: Place all Sauce ingredients EXCEPT water in a large jug or small bowl. Mix until combined, then mix in water.
• Be Stir Fry Ready: Have all ingredients lined up, ready to toss in. After Fry #2, things move quickly.
• Coating #1: Mix 5 tablespoons cornflour into the pork and leave for 5 minutes. At first, it will be white from the cornflour, but after a while it will sweat and make the cornflour (mostly / partially) wet, and will be sticky (this is key for coating to stick).
• Coating #2: Spread 1/2 cup cornflour in a shallow bowl. Coat pork, shaking off excess, and pile onto a plate.
• Reserve cornflour in case you need to dust again just prior to frying. Pork should be at least half white when you put it into the oil (if not, just sprinkle with reserved cornflour).
• Heat oil: Pour enough oil into a large saucepan or small pot so it's 2.5cm / 1" deep. Heat to 180°C/350°F (or until pork immediately starts sizzling when you dip it in).
• Fry #1: Cook pork in batches, being sure not to crowd the pot, for 3 minutes until golden. Drain on rack. This step is just to cook the pork. It takes me 4 batches.
• Fry #2: Turn the stove up slightly and heat oil to 200°C/390°F. Starting with the coolest pork, add half the pork (you can crowd the pot) and cook for 1 1/2 minutes, or until pork is deep golden brown and crispy. Transfer to rack, repeat with remaining pork - I do 2 batches.
• Keep warm in oven.
• Heat oil in a very large skillet over high heat.
• Add garlic, ginger and onion, stir for 1 1/2 minutes. Add capsicum and stir for 2 minutes.
• Add Sauce & pinapple, then let it come to a rapid simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes until it thickens - when you drag the spoon across the base, a path should briefly appear (see video at 1 min 53 s).
• 10 second toss: Add pork, then QUICKLY toss to coat - aim for 10 seconds!
• Serve asap! Pour onto serving plate, serve immediately! Will stay crispy for around 5 minutes then starts softening but still has a solid coating. This is just the reality of Sweet and Sour Pork, even at restaurants!

SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Steps:

• In a large skillet add the oil about one inch high in the pan and heat to 350 degrees.
• Salt and Pepper the pork and toss in the cornstarch.
• Add the pork to the oil and cook until golden and crispy about 3-4 minutes. Remove and set aside on a plate.
• In a large skillet add the olive oil, bell pepper and onion and sauté until tender.
• In a small bowl whisk the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, salt and cornstarch.
• Add the pork and pineapple back to the skillet with the peppers and pour the sauce on top. Let simmer until heated through. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

SWEET & SOUR PORK

Steps:

• Mix the pork with the marinade ingredients and leave to sit for at least 15 mins, or chill for a few hours. In a separate bowl, mix all the coating ingredients. Drain any excess liquid off the pork and toss the pork in the seasoned coating. Can be done 1 hr ahead.
• To make the sauce, heat the oil in a shallow saucepan and gently fry the garlic, ginger and peppers until just starting to soften. Now drop in all the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds. Bring everything to the boil and cook for a few mins until thickened, then take off the heat. To make the batter, whisk the flours and baking powder together with 200ml water to a smooth paste.
• Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer, large saucepan or a wok to 180C or until a drop of batter sizzles and browns in 20 secs. Dip the marinated pork in the batter mix (do it in two or three batches) and let any excess drip off. Fry the pork in batches for about 5-6 mins or until golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper until all the batches are done. Make sure you bring the oil back to the correct temperature between each batch. Coat the crispy pork in the sauce, then sprinkle over the sesame seeds, coriander and serve with rice or noodles.

MY OH SO LITTLE TWIST ON SWEET AND SOUR PORK

Steps:

• Blend cornflour with water in a medium-sized bowl until dissolved. Add pork, egg yolks, soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and mix well. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
• Make the sweet and sour sauce. Remove core from pineapple and finely slice into pieces. Using a vegetable peeler, finely slice carrot lengthways into ribbons. Cut cucumber in half lengthways, slice on the diagonal and set aside, together with the pineapple and carrot.
• Place vinegar, wine or sherry, sugar and extra salt in a medium-sized heavy-based saucepan and stir over high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, add garlic and ginger, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add reserved pineapple, carrot, cucumber, pepper and tomato and simmer for a further 3 minutes or until pineapple is tender and tomato has broken down slightly. Stir in soy sauce, remove from stove and set aside.
• Make the pork. Combine plain flour and extra cornflour. Add to the marinated pork and mix well. Heat vegetable oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly. Deep-fry pork in batches over high heat for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium and fry for another 2 minutes, or until pork is almost cooked through.
• Remove from wok and drain on kitchen paper. Gently reheat Sweet and Sour Sauce. Finally, return all pork to the hot wok and deep-fry for a further 3 minutes, or until lightly browned, crispy and cooked through. Remove from wok and drain well on kitchen paper.
• Arrange pork on a platter and serve immediately with a bowl of warm Sweet and Sour Sauce.