Sweet and Sour Pork

Added by: Norah Added on: November 8, 2019

Norah's Cooking Diary

Sweet and Sour Pork (Gu Lao Rou 咕老肉)

## Season 3, Episode 11 ##

Hello everyone. Welcome to Norah’s Cooking Diary.

This is the 11th video of Season 3. If you enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up by pressing the like button. Please also share this recipe with your family and friends.

In this video I am going to share with you a Sweet and Sour Pork (Gu Lao Rou 咕老肉) recipe.

Moist and succulent deep fried pork coated with sweet and sour sauce is a mouth watering and such a flavorful dish. This classic Chinese all time favorite is no stranger to anyone who loves Chinese food.

Happy cooking 😉

Several notes here to share with you:

You could substitute pork shoulder with pork loin or pork belly. Chicken and beef are equally tasty with this recipe.
You could substitute potato starch with corn starch.
You could substitute apple cider vinegar with white vinegar.
You could substitute brown sugar with any types of sugar that is available to you.
You could substitute red onions with brown onions.
Deep frying the pork twice will give the pork a crispy coating.
It is recommended to simmer the sauce until they are very thick. The stir fry vegetables will release moisture, and this will add liquid to the sauce when they are mixed.
A thicker sauce will also help to retain the crispiness of the deep fried pork when they are mixed.

Here is a quick rundown of the recipe:

Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Pork

±400 Gm Pork Shoulder
½ Green Capsicum
½ Small Cucumber
1 Stick Celery
1 Red Chili
½ Red Onions
1 Spring Onions
1 Small Tomato
1 Clove Garlic
½ Cup Potato Starch + ¾ Cup Plain Water
4 Tbsp Cooking oil
2 Cup Cooking Oil, for frying
1 Egg (±60 gm)
¼ Tsp Salt

Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Sauce

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
½ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp Plum Sauce
2 Tbsp HP Sauce
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Plain Water
1 Tbsp Cooking Wine
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

Soak the potato starch in plain water for 30mins. Mix the brown sugar, plum sauce, HP sauce, tomato paste, apple cider and plain water in a bowl. Stir the mixture to mix thoroughly and then set aside. Cut the red onions, celery, cucumber, red chili, capsicum, tomato and spring onion. Transfer the cut vegetables into a bowl and set aside. Chopped the garlic into a fine mince and transfer to a bowl.
Cut the pork shoulder against their grain and slice each piece into 1cm thickness with a sharp knife. Use the thickest side of the back of the knife to beat the meat repeatedly on both sides to tenderize the meat. Cut each of the sliced pork into 1.5cm strip and then transfer the meat to a bowl. Add salt, cooking wine and sesame oil to the bowl. Rub and massage the pork together to mix well and set aside.
After 30mins, discard the water used to soak the potato starch leaving the solid starch at the bottom. Add egg and cooking oil to the solid starch. Carefully loosen the solid starch with a fork and lightly stir the mixture to mix thoroughly. Transfer the mixture to the pork prepared earlier. Stir the mixture briefly to coat the pork evenly.
Heat up the cooking oil in a stir fry pan over HIGH heat until the oil is hot. Once the oil is hot reduce the heat to MEDIUM and deep fry the pork for 30secs in batches to avoid overcrowding. Use a spatula to separate any sticking frying pork pieces. Remove the deep fried pork with a strainer and spatula and then repeat the same for the rest of the pork pieces.
Reheat the oil over HIGH heat and return the fried pork to the pan to fry for the 2nd time for 1 min or until golden. Remove the fried pork with the strainer and spatula and then set aside. Remove the oil in the pan with a ladle leaving 3 Tbsp of oil in the frying pan. Heat up the oil over HIGH heat until it is smoking hot. Stir fry the cut vegetables prepared earlier for 1 min over HIGH heat so that they are slightly charred. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl. Add the sauce mixture to the hot pan. Simmer the sauce over HIGH heat until the sauce is thickened, stirring frequently to mix well. Once the sauce is thickened slightly, season the sauce with salt to taste. Add the minced garlic prepared earlier to the sauce. Stir the mixture and continue to simmer until the sauce is very thick, stirring frequently to avoid from burning bottom. Return the stir fry vegetables and deep fried pork to the pan and then stir fry briefly to mix well over HIGH heat.
Transfer the sweet and sour pork to a serving dish and garnish with sliced spring onions. Serve immediately with a warm bed of rice.

Happy cooking 😉🧡