Sweet and Sour Pork | A Basic Chinese Dish X Mama Cheung

This is the second episode of a brand new season of “A Basic Chinese Dish,'' where we teach you how to cook classic, simple dishes from China — so easy to make, they’re like learning your ABCDs. This time, we’re recreating recipes from Instagram- and Youtube-famous chefs known for their homely Chinese food. 

Gu Lou Juk, or sweet and sour pork, is a Chinese dish everyone knows.

There are many different versions of sweet and sour pork in China. The Cantonese style of cooking it is one of the most popular versions.

Cantonese people like to deep-fry the pork, and coat it with a thick, glossy sauce made of ketchup and vinegar to give the pork a sweet and tangy flavor. It’s usually fried with bell peppers and pineapples. 

If you’d like to follow along, we have the recipe here:

Recipe (serving 6 people)

• Pork shoulder 350g  (0.77lb)
• ½ green bell pepper
• ½ red bell pepper
• 3 slices pineapple
• 2 eggs
• 60g (0.13lb) cornstarch
• 60g (0.13lb) potato starch

 

Pork marinade:

• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons white vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons water
• Cornstarch and water mixture to thicken sauce. Our recommendation ratio: For every 1 tablespoon of water, use 2 teaspoons of cornstarch 
  

1. Cut the pork shoulder into small pieces and marinate them for five minutes with ground black pepper, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and half a beaten egg
2. Mix 60g (0.13lb) of cornstarch with 60g (0.13lb) of potato starch on a plate 
3. Beat the remaining 1 and a ½ eggs
4. Coat the pork with the starch mixture and dip it in the egg mixture
5. Toss the pork in the starch mixture again 
6. Heat up 500ml (17oz) of cooking oil and fry the pork for 10 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if the pork is cooked. It is cooked if the toothpick pokes through the pork easily
7. Take out the pork and set it aside
8. Heat the oil up again and fry the pork for another two minutes until the pork looks golden brown. Set it aside 
9. Cut the bell peppers and pineapples into small pieces and stir-fry them. Take out and set them aside
10. To make the sauce, heat up a pan and pour sugar, salt, tomato ketchup, tomato puree, white vinegar, and water into it 
11. Add cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce. You can adjust the amount of cornstarch and water you use based on how thick you would like the sauce to be
12. Add in the pork, bell peppers, and pineapples. Mix well so that every ingredient is coated with the sauce