This is probably one of the first dishes my mom taught me when I first learnt to cook. I remember being homesick for local food whilst in Sydney and since my landlord had a kitchen at her place, I decided to start cooking for myself and friends I invited over from time to time.
Unlike this recipe however, my mom usually coats the pork in flour and corn starch which gives the pork a thinner but crispier surface. This one is actually made using a wet batter and the result had a crunchier and juicier texture. The thicker coating over the pork also meant that it was able to soak up a bit more of the sauce. If you prefer the former, simply omit the egg white and water in the batter.
Most traditional sweet and sour pork recipes actually include pineapple and capsicum but since I'm not a fan of either of those, I've substituted them with frozen vegetable mix instead ala Hainanese pork chop style.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
350 g pork tenderloin, cut into cubes
500 ml cooking oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
100 g frozen peas
1 tomato, cut into cubes
1 tbsp corn flour, dissolved in 2 tbsp of water
Marinade:
1.5 tbsp soya sauce
0.5 tsp sesame oil
Dash of pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
Batter:
3 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp tapioca flour
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg white
50 ml water
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp plum sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
0.5 tsp soya sauce
0.5 tsp sesame oil
Pepper
120 ml water
Directions:
Combine the seasonings for the marinade into the pork cubes and leave the pork to sit in the fridge for an hour.
Mix together the batter ingredients till it resembles pancake batter. Heat up a wok with the cooking oil. To test if it's ready for frying, drop a bit of batter into the wok and if it becomes crispy and floats to the surface immediately, it's ready to be used.
Dip the pork cubes into the batter and coat thoroughly. Slowly drop the pork cubes into the hot oil and deepfry for about 5 minutes till the pork turns golden brown. Remove and place on a napkin to drain the oil.
In the meantime, prepare the sweet and sour sauce.
Remove all the oil in the wok save up for about 1 tbsp of oil. Under low heat, fry the crushed garlic. Add the frozen peas, followed by the cut tomatoes. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce and let it simmer. When it starts to boil, stir in the cornstarch water to thicken.
Turn off the heat, add in the fried pork cubes and quickly stir to coat with the sauce. Serve with warm rice.