A classic dish from North East (Dongbei) China, originating in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. It consists of large thinly sliced pieces of pork in potato starch batter, deep-fried twice until crispy. They are then lightly coated in a variation of a sweet and sour sauce, made from freshly prepared syrup and rice vinegar, flavored with ginger and garlic. The batter absorbs the sauce and softens. A Beijing variant has the sauce thin and watery, while the dish as prepared in the North East is often a thicker sauce with some ketchup added to it. However true 咕老肉 Sweet Sour Pork is made with an amber colored sauce due to the fact that it uses caramelized sugar.
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Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon Chinese Xiao Xing wine or dry sherry
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Main Ingredients
- 12 ounces boneless lean pork cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
Other Ingredients
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- cornstarch for dry-coating
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 3/4 cup lychee fruit
- 1 small green bell pepper seeded and cut into 1-inch squares
- 3/4 cup pineapple chunks
Ingredients
Marinade
Main Ingredients
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Other Ingredients
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Instructions
- Combine marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add pork and stir to coat. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and set aside.
- Place egg and cornstarch in separate bowls. Dip pork in egg, then roll in cornstarch, shaking off excess.
- Add oil into wok to a depth of about 2 inches. Over high heat, bring oil to 360'F. Add pork, a few pieces at a time, and cook, turning occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Lift out and drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a 200'F oven while cooking remaining pork.
- Meanwhile, cook sauce over medium-high heat, stirring until sauce boils and thickens. Stir in lychee, bell pepper, and pineapple. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 minute. Arrange pork on a serving platter, pour sauce over pork. Serve hot.
Recipe Notes
From A Wok for All Seasons by Martin Yan. (Doubleday) Copyright 1988 by Yan Can & Company.
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Chef Yan has remained an active international food ambassador throughout his career. He roams the world representing different commercial and social concerns to entertain and educate the public, sharing with them his unique humor and strong passion for Chinese cooking.
God bless you , Mr. Yan, for the years of superior recipes and entertainment! You have helped my cooking skills in so many ways. Thank you, so much!
Gary
I still use the same receipes that You taught at Travis Air Force Base in California when you were at UC Davis!
Chef Yan I enjoyed watching your show on PBS. One of my first tastes of Chinese food was Sweet & Sour Pork in San Francisco when I was in Roosevelt Jr. High in Richmond, CA. Mrs. Soo, our journalism teacher, taught us how to use chopsticks with pencils before going on a field trip to SF. We toured the SF Examiner, a Chinese newspaper, a fortune cookie making shop and finally dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant [I wish I could remember the name]. We all showed off our new chopstick skills and ate wonderful tasting food! A memory I will never forget… Thank you for posting this recipe!
I was so excited to find this recipie! My mom made it when I was a kid. I was teary eyed today as she has passed away! The flavors touched my heart with good memories! Now my family said I had to make this again tomorrow!
Hi Martin, Why not cornstarch egg cornstarch ? Egg sticks?
I remember watching “Yan Can Cook” in New Jersey many years ago on TV. Sweet Sour Pork is one of the best. That show inspired me to take a chinese cooking class that met once a week for 15 weeks. I still cook my favorites, but I am having trouble find the ingredients in Jacksonville. One ingredient in particular used in making Steak on a Stick was a jarred sauce added to the mixture that gave it a spicy finish, It was brownish in color and spelled Saday Sauce. Not Sate sauce it was spelled with a D. Can anyone help me to locate that sauce?