Delicious Sweet and Sour Pork

I have always loved the flavor of sweet and sour pork at restaurants, but as some of you have learned by now, I am super picky about meat so if it is coated and fried, I don’t order it because I can’t see what I am biting in to.  I finally learned how to make it myself about six months ago and am SO excited because I can eat every bite with confidence and truly enjoy it.  This recipe is so tasty! I love how dredging the meat in corn starch instead of flour then double frying it makes the outside of the meat so crisp.  But even better than that, the meat that is being fried has been soaked in a delish marinade to make it extra tasty.  The ingredient list may seem a little daunting but it’s really pretty simple once you get cookin’.

Ingredients:

2 tsp soy sauce

1/8 tsp white sugar

2 tsp corn starch (the original recipe calls for potato starch which I can not seem to find)

1 tsp sesame oil

ground black pepper to taste

1 pound pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup water

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

2 tsp corn starch (again if you can find potato, use it)

1 dash red food coloring ( I found that 3 drops was sufficient)

1 egg, beaten

1 cup corn or potato starch

2 cups peanut oil for frying

1 green bell pepper, cut into large chunks (I used my bag of leftover frozen peppers which worked great)

2 cayenne peppers, sliced (instead of the cayenne peppers, I used Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce since it was in my fridge, worked perfectly)

4 slices canned pineapple, chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 green onions, sliced

Directions:

Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, 2 tsp potato (or corn) starch, sesame oil, and black pepper in a large bowl.  Mix the pork into the marinade and turn until all the pork is covered.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes.

To make the sweet and sour sauce, whisk together the vinegar and 2 tsp starch then add ketchup, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, water, and red food coloring in a separate bowl.  Set aside

Dip the pork pieces in the beaten egg.  (I actually found that just pouring about half of the egg over the pork and mixing it all in was much easier than dipping each little bite sized piece), then dredge in the 1 cup potato (or corn) starch.  Use your hand to press the starch onto the pork, assuring a consistent coating.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok (I don’t own a wok but my large frying pan worked just fine) over medium-high heat to a temperature of 375 degrees F.

Fry the pork pieces in the hot oil until crisp and light brown, 4-5 minutes.  Remove pork from the oil and drain on a paper towel, keeping the oil hot.  Return the drained pork pieces to the hot oil for 30 seconds more.  Remove and drain again. (This might seem silly but I have tried it without this second step and it does make a difference in the crisp outer layer of your pork.)   Pour off all but about 1 Tbsp of the oil from the wok.

Heat 1 Tbsp of reserved oil in the wok over medium heat.  Cook the green bell pepper, cayenne pepper (or chili sauce), pineapple, garlic and green onion in the heated oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the sauce and stir until it thickens.

Stir in the pork at the last minute until it is coated with sauce.  Remove from heat and serve over rice or noodles.

Top with sesame seeds, peanuts,  fried noodles and/or chili sauce.

*Recipe was found on allrecipes.com from BETSYLINDSEY.