Sweet and sour pork recipe
This traditional Cantonese dish was used in the 18th and 19th century to test the culinary skills of chefs. Quick and easy to make, I think it's a lot more fun to make it yourself than to get in a takeaway.
Ingredients
For the pork- 2 pork loin chops or steaks
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- 1 splash of light soy sauce
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- 3 tbsp roasted whole soya beans or dry-roasted peanuts
- 1 pinch sea salt (optional)
- 3 pinches ground white pepper
- 1 tsp crushed dried chillies
- 125 g tinned pineapple in natural juice
- 125 ml pineapple juice
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 portions of steamed jasmine rice or salad leaves to serve
Details
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 5 mins
- Cooking Time: 5 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- Put all the ingredients for the pork coating into a grinder and whiz until coarsely ground, or grind in a pestle and mortar. Transfer to a bowl. Put all the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce into a blender and whiz to a paste.
- Sprinkle the pork coating onto a board and press the pork into the spice mix, pressing down so that the mix sticks to the meat, and coating well on both sides.
- Heat a wok or pan over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the pork and cook for 2 minutes, or until fully cooked. Remove the pork from the wok and put to one side in a warm place.
- Pour the sweet and sour sauce into the wok and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened naturally. Season further if required with light soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, salt and pepper.
- Serve the sauce poured over the pork, with salad leaves or rice.
Taken from Ching's Chinese Food in Minutes published by HarperCollins