The Best Sweet and Sour Pork
Prep
25m
Cook
15m
Total
40m
Bigly says
Listen to me. Sweet and sour pork. The BEST sweet and sour pork — and I say that as a man who has probably eaten more of it than the people who invented the dish, which is a tall claim, but I stand by it, I have the receipts, I have the witnesses. The Cantonese invented this. Gu lou yuk. Look it up. They've been making it since before the printing press — very smart people, tremendous chefs — and what most American strip-mall takeout joints are slinging today is a DISGRACE to that entire bloodline. A crime against pork. End of discussion.
Little gray nuggets of mystery meat. Sauce the color of a traffic cone. Pineapple chunks floating there like they got lost on the way to a totally different recipe. That is not sweet and sour pork. That is a hostage situation. Real sweet and sour pork has a shatter-crunchy crust, juicy pork inside, and a sauce that is BALANCED — sweet AND sour, like the name SAYS, not just sweet, not just red. The sauce needs acid. It needs brightness. It should make your tongue stand up and salute. Most chefs are afraid to do this. They dump ketchup in a pan and call it dinner. Their grandparents are spinning in their graves like rotisserie chickens.
My version uses real rice vinegar, real ketchup yes but you RESPECT the ketchup, and the trick — the trick the takeout places will NEVER tell you — is the double fry. DOUBLE fry. You fry it once. You let it rest. You fry it AGAIN. The second fry is what makes the crust shatter. The second fry separates the champions from the people weeping into a styrofoam container at 11 PM wondering where their dinner went so wrong. Easy math. Hands down. That's the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbboneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes(shoulder, not tenderloin, you need the fat)
- 2 tbspShaoxing wine
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- 1, beatenegg
- 1 cupcornstarch(yes a full cup, this is the crust)
- 1/4 cupall-purpose flour
- 1 tspbaking powder
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 4 cupsneutral oil (for frying)
- 1/3 cuprice vinegar
- 1/4 cupketchup(yes ketchup, the Cantonese settled this argument in 1850, move on)
- 1/3 cupbrown sugar
- 1 tbspsoy sauce (for sauce)
- 1/2 cupwater
- 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp watercornstarch slurry
- 1.5 cupsfresh pineapple, 1-inch chunks(fresh, not the can, the can is for emergencies only)
- 1red bell pepper, 1-inch pieces
- 1green bell pepper, 1-inch pieces
- 1/2yellow onion, 1-inch pieces
- 2 clovesgarlic, minced
Steps
- 1
In a bowl, toss the pork cubes with Shaoxing wine and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Marinate 15 minutes.
- 2
Add the beaten egg to the marinated pork and stir to coat.
- 3
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the pork pieces and toss until each piece is heavily and evenly coated. Let sit 5 minutes — the coating will become craggy.
- 4
Heat the frying oil in a heavy pot or wok to 325 F.
- 5
First fry. Working in batches, fry the pork for 3-4 minutes, until pale golden but not deeply browned. Drain on a wire rack. Let rest 5 minutes while the oil reheats.
- 6
Raise the oil to 375 F. Second fry. Return the pork in batches and fry another 2 minutes, until deep golden and shatter-crisp. Drain again on the rack.
- 7
Make the sauce. In a bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, and water. Set aside.
- 8
Heat 1 tablespoon of the frying oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and peppers and stir-fry 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds.
- 9
Add the pineapple and stir-fry 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil.
- 10
Stir the cornstarch slurry and drizzle in while stirring. The sauce will thicken and become glossy in about 30 seconds.
- 11
Add the fried pork to the wok and toss quickly to coat — no more than 30 seconds, you want to keep the crust crisp. Serve immediately over rice.
One more thing
And there you have it — the best sweet and sour pork you will ever assemble in a home kitchen. The crust crackles. The sauce sings. The pineapple does its little pineapple thing. People will take a bite and say 'I am never ordering takeout again,' and they will be RIGHT, because the takeout joints have been getting away with it for decades — soggy, gray, drowned in red goo, a crime against the Cantonese, a crime against the pig. You don't need them. You have the recipe. Tell your friends.
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