The most iconic of all cantonese cuisine would have to be sweet and sour pork 咕噜肉. I dare say there would be a Chinese takeaway shop in any town any city, selling a variant of this.

The Hong Kong version I grew up with is sweet and tangy, with thick pieces of meat thinly coated with a crisp batter (it’s not called Sweet and Sour Batter ok?) I’m salivating just thinking about it!

The sauce has to taste of tomato sauce and not some sort of industrial grade vinegar with artificial colouring.

Some versions uses ribs (which makes it a 生炒排骨 / fried pork ribs instead), meaning less meat for me. Remember to get either pork belly or tenderloin, with the latter being most satisfyingly tender.

Ingredients

• 350g pork belly or tenderloin, cubed 3cm by 3cm
• 10 pieces of canned pineapple (reserve juice)
• 1 green capsicum, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1 red capsicum, cut into 3cm pieces
• 6 tbsp corn starch for coating
• 1 egg, lightly beaten, in a dish
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• Canola oil for shallow frying

Marinade

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp corn starch

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 120ml white vinegar
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 100ml reserved pineapple juice
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch (for thickening at the end)

Instructions

1. Mix pork with the marinade and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients (except corn starch for thickening) together and set aside.
3. Place 6 tbsp corn starch on a large plate and toss pork pieces in to evenly coat them. Transfer pork pieces to the dish with the beaten egg, toss to coat each piece before transferring to the plate with flour. Toss to coat.
4. Add oil to a wok and heat on high. Shallow fry pork pieces in batches, for about 5 minutes each, turning once. Fry in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
5. Remove the pork pieces and drain on a paper towel for a few minutes.
6. Add a tsp of oil to the wok and stir fry the pineapple and capsicum, cooking them for 2 minutes. Return the fried pork belly to the pan.
7. Give the sauce a good stir and pour the sauce into the pan and stir till pork pieces are well-coated.
8. Mix corn starch with 2 tsp cold water to form a slurry. Pour into the hot pan and stir to thicken sauce.
9. Serve with hot rice.