Sweet And Sour Pork

I have always enjoyed a good Chinese takeaway; there is nothing better than cold chow mien the morning after a good night out; but the one thing I have never been particularly fond of is the sweet and sour pork with the over thick spongy batter and the slightly too vinegary sauce which accompanies it, which most takeaways seem to serve. I know this is probably due to the fact that it is mass produced, frozen and bought in bulk, plus having to cater for the English palate, but for me it is a dish to be avoided. When we were first married we settled in Mexborough where there was only one very good Chinese takeaway, run by the family of an old schoolfriend of Paul’s, but even their sweet and sour wasn’t to our taste. 

I did once, way back in the late eighties find a really nice recipe in a little oriental cook book; now long lost, probably through one of our umpteen house moves; which didn’t have a thick batter and, surprisingly, didn’t use pineapple. Around that time we were also in the extremely lucky position of living close to and knowing the owner/manager of a very popular Cantonese restaurant so we became a little spoiled for choice. The restaurant was so well known my sister’s ex-husband had had it recommended to him by one of his London friends. So when she and her ex brought their new partners to visit we took great pleasure in booking a table. I do have to admit to feeling a little smug when we were greeted by our first names and asked if we wanted our usual bottle of wine with our meal. And possibly a little smugger when the manager asked where the girls were? We explained to our guests that we were regular visitors and our fourth daughter, at the tender age of 4½ was quite partial to the squid in black bean sauce. Not being able to eat there is one of the main regrets of moving away from the area but I did hear that the place had been sold a few years later and hadn’t got quite such a good reputation.

After moving around quite a bit we finally settled back in Mexborough where there now appears to be a Chinese takeaway on every street corner. And; good, bad or indifferent; we have tried them all. 

In 2006 our fifth daughter and I took a trip to China. Culturally it was an amazing trip and the food was something else. For a start it appeared they did not have specific items for different meals, although breakfast, which tended to be buffet style, had both a Chinese and an English choice. I was always intrigued by the presence at every meal of a big bowl of a thin gruel like liquid with what appeared to be eyeballs floating about in it; I’d first noticed it being served on the plane journey over; but never had the courage to either try it or ask about it. As we were part of a large group for our main meals we were generally seated at large round tables. Each course of the meal was added to the last on a huge lazy Susan in the centre, from which we served ourselves. We soon learned how to handle our chopsticks, I can tell you. It was either that or starve! The rules were to never take more than you will eat and do not use your chopsticks to take food from the serving plates. Although some of the food was decidedly different it was always delicious, fresh and never greasy. I don’t think we came across anything we didn’t like and I always enjoyed the fish dishes in particular, especially the one where it was served as a sculpture of a fish, each scale being a delectable mouthful of battered fish. It was on this trip I acquired my taste for Chinese beer; my favourite being Tsing Tao; which we can now get in the UK. Back home I found that it took me a fair while to reaccustom myself to the anglicised version of a Chinese meal. To be fair restaurant/takeaway food around us has improved over the last few years with a couple opening nearby which are better than average. And especially now since, due to the pandemic, nearly all of them deliver to our door.

No matter how good a takeaway meal is though, nothing beats home made. During my non-cooking years anything home cooked was out of a jar which, like the takeaway sauces, tend to be quite vinegary, contain huge chunks of syrupy pineapple and never quite spread far enough for a family of seven. So making a sweet and sour for dinner became quite pricey for a mediocre meal. So, last year, whilst searching for something interesting to make with pork, I happened upon my now go to recipe for sweet and sour pork. It is very reminiscent of that old lost recipe in how to prepare the pork, which is the messy part, and create the sauce. Once I have diced the pork it is time to add the batter. This is done by tossing the pork in plain flour, dipping it into beaten egg and returning it to the flour. I always end up with a trail of flour and egg across the worktop, inch thick batter on my finger ends and Paul moaning about the mess. I have also learned that when it says fry in batches there is a reason for this. The same as getting the oil to the right temperature. In this case it is quite important to do both. The coated pork is deep fried before adding to the rest of the ingredients. I could eat it just as it is, like popcorn pork bites and I do admit to scoffing a few whilst I stir fry the veggies! Although it is the last thing to add I generally mix up the sauce before preparing anything else. The first time I made it, I mistakenly added the cornflour slurry to the sauce mix rather than mixing it in a separate jug and adding it at the very end. It didn’t appear to make any difference to the finished dish so I have continued to do this. Plus it saves on washing up. Once cooked serve with rice and enjoy. Although it does involve a little preparation it is so easy to make this tasty meal and I usually have enough left over to freeze for another day, unless Netti nicks it for her supper! 

I have also rediscovered the benefits of using a wok. A good while back, since we never seemed to use it, I gave our wok to my son in law but over the last few months I have often wished I had it back. I have been  using a saucepan for deep frying the pork and a shallow frying pan for the stir fry but last week I took the plunge and bought a new wok which made cooking my sweet and sour a pleasure. Apart from trying to remove my fingerprints when I got my battered fingers a little too close to the hot oil!   

1. Combine the honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and tomato paste in a jug.
2. Add the cornstarch and water. Set aside.
3. Season pork with salt and pepper.
4. Mix the flour with ⅓ cup cornflour.
5. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl.
6. Batter the pork by coating each piece in flour then dip in the egg before returning to the flour for second coating.
7. Heat 2 cups of oil in a wok or medium sized pan until smoking hot.
8. Add a small batch of the battered pork and fry until golden brown and pork is cooked through.
9. Transfer pork to a shallow dish lined with paper towels.
10. Continue to fry the pork in small batches until all of it is cooked.
11. Set pork to one side.
12. Discard the oil from wok and carefully wipe clean.
13. Heat 1 tbs oil in wok.
14. Add the garlic and onions, stir-fry for 30 seconds.
15. Add in the red and green peppers, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
16. Add in the pineapple, if using, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
17. Add the pork and sweet and sour sauce, combine well to coat the pork.
18. Bring the sauce to a boil and allow to thicken.
19. Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds and serve with boiled rice.

Notes:

Chicken can be used as an alternative to pork in this recipe.

I sometimes omit the pineapple since Paul isn’t that keen on it or I am unable to get hold of a small can.