Sweet and Sour Pork

By carvalhohm2

Ingredients

• Marinade:
• 1/2 pound pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sherry
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 egg
• dash pepper

Details

Adapted from hicookery.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Make the marinade by combining in a large bowl the sugar, sesame oil, salt, sherry, oyster sauce, soy sauce, egg and pepper. Soak the pork for at least an hour. Reserve the marinade to mix with the batter.

Batter:
1 egg
½ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon water

Remove the pork from the marinade. In the marinade bowl, add the egg, cornstarch and water. Mix well and return the pork to the marinade. Deep fry in hot oil until the pork pieces are cooked through and the batter becomes golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
½ cup sugar
½ cup vinegar (we use cane sugar vinegar)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons constarch
½ cup water or pineapple juice, drained from the can
1 teaspoon oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small onion, quartered
1 large tomato, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) can of pineapple chunks, drained (reserved)

Prepare the vegetables. Set aside with the drained pineapple chunks. Bring to a boil over the stove top the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sherry and ketchup. Reduce the heat to simmer. In a cup, mix the cornstarch with the water or pineapple juice to make a smooth paste. Stir into the sauce until thickened. Remove from heat.

In a separate skillet, heat the oil. Saute the garlic, then gently mix in the bell peppers onions, tomatoes and pineapple for 3-4 minutes. Do not overcook to retain the freshness of the vegetables. Discard the garlic. Add the vegetable and pineapples to the sauce until everything is well coated. Arrange the fried pork pieces on a platter. Pour the sauce mixture over them. Serve hot with steamed white rice or noodles.

Plan ahead for each step in this recipe. Marinate the pork early in the cooking process. The sauce can be made beforehand and reheated before adding the fresh vegetables and pineapples to save time.

A deep fryer is quicker to cook the pork but we have also used a frying pan on the stove top before. Just make sure that the pork is cooked all the way through in the latter method and drain the oil before mixing with the sweet and sour sauce.