Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork
Sweet and sour pineapple pork is a Cantonese dish. I had heard of this dish when I was a child, but I didn't know its name, only using pineapple with fried meat. At the time I thought it was incredible, meat and fruit cooking together! I have never seen or tasted such a combination, growing up in the countryside. I only knew that vegetables can be cooked with meat. So my curiosity was finally answered when I learned about this dish at New Oriental Cooking School, what a special dish! We need to coat the meat in batter for frying and then cook it a second time. It's new to me. It has a unique taste and I am sure people who like sweet and sour tastes will love this dish! Let's cook this new dish together!
Flavor: sweet and sour
Cuisine: Cantonese
Equipment
- 1 wok
- 1 slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork belly
Accessory Ingredients:
- 1 green onion (separate white part from green part)
- fresh ginger to taste
- 1 mild green pepper
- 1 mild chili pepper
- ½ pineapple
Batter:
- flour and corn starch in equal parts
- 5-10 ml baking powder
- A small amount of custard powder for color
Seasonings
- 5 ml Salt
- 18-25 ml white sugar The ratio of seasoning is: sugar: vinegar: salt = 5:4:1
- 15-20 ml white vinegar
- 10-15 ml ketchup
Instructions
Preparation:
- Wash the pork belly, peel and wash the pineapple, green onion and ginger.
- Peel the pork belly, cut into 5-8mm bite-sized slices, slice the pineapple into bite-sized chunks, slice the green onion into white and green parts, and slice the ginger and peppers.
Marinate the pork belly
- Put the green portion of the scallion and the ginger slices into a bowl with the pork belly. Then, add 3-5ml of salt, stir well, and let stand for 15 minutes.500 grams pork belly, 1 green onion, fresh ginger, 5 ml Salt
Prepare the batter:
- Mix equal parts flour and corn starch. and small amounts of baking powder and custard powder. After stirring until there are no lumps, add warm water (25-40 C) in small amounts and stir well. Then add 5ml cold oil. Stir well.flour and corn starch in equal parts, 5-10 ml baking powder, A small amount of custard powder for color
- The batter should not be too thick, but not so thin as water. Test the thickness by coating one piece of pork and frying. The cooked pork should be slightly crispy and have a nice three-dimensional quality, but not crunchy like fried chicken. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more water. If too thin, add a little more flour and corn starch.
Cooking:
- Blanch the pineapple.1/2 pineapple
- Add a lot of oil (about 3/5 of the wok) in a wok, heat it to 150-180 C and use low heat. Dip the meat into the batter so that each piece of meat is coated in the batter. Then put the meat into the hot oil.(NOTE: be sure to space the meat in the wok, so that the pieces do not stick together). After the batter has solidified, use a slotted spoon to separate any pieces of meat that stick together.500 grams pork belly
- When the batter is firm and yellow, remove it, heat the oil again to 150-180 C, put the meat in the hot oil again and fry, constantly turning the meat with a spoon until the meat becomes golden brown and floats on the oil. Remove the meat with a strainer, letting the oil drip into the wok. Set the meat aside.
- Add the green peppers and red peppers to the hot oil from the previous step. After 5 seconds use a strainer to remove the peppers, allowing the oil to drip back into the pan, then set the peppers aside. Pour the hot oil into a heat-resistant container for storage.1 mild green pepper, 1 mild chili pepper
- Add 15m of fresh oil to the pot, add the white part of the green onion and the ginger slices, then add the ketchup and stir well. Next, add 200-300ml of water, season it with the sugar and white vinegar. Bring to a boil, then add the starch water to thicken the sauce. Add 5ml of oil. Stir well. (See Notes below: the goal is to have the sauce coat the meat and other ingredients.)1 green onion, fresh ginger, 18-25 ml white sugar, 10-15 ml ketchup, 15-20 ml white vinegar
- Add the meat cubes, green peppers, red peppers, and pineapples to the saucepan. Stir fry so that the meat pieces are evenly coated with the sauce.500 grams pork belly, 1 mild green pepper, 1 mild chili pepper, 1/2 pineapple
- Transfer to a plate and serve.
Notes
- Be careful with hot oil. Keep utensils and hands dry.
- In winter, when the temperature is low, using warm water to prepare the batter can make the flour, cornstarch and baking powder react faster. Make a good batter. If the temperature is not cold, then you can use cold water.
- The first frying is to set its shape and mature the pork, and the second frying is for better color and texture.
- You can cut the meat into any shape you like, but not too thick.
- When this dish is done, the sauce should coat the meat and other ingredients. It is not a broth, so don't add too much water during cooking step 4.
- If you don't have fresh pineapple, you can use canned pineapple instead.
- Ketchup has a sour taste because it contains vinegar, so when adding vinegar in the later stage, the vinegar should be about 15-20ml. It is recommended to add a small amount first, if the taste is not enough, you can add it again.
Nutrition
Calories: 1433kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 25gFat: 133gSaturated Fat: 48gPolyunsaturated Fat: 14gMonounsaturated Fat: 62gCholesterol: 180mgSodium: 471mgPotassium: 815mgFiber: 4gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 456IUVitamin C: 145mgCalcium: 198mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!