Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork Stir-Fry

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Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork

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Almost every Chinese restaurant in America serves their own version of sweet and sour pork. Since Chinese chefs quickly assimilate whatever ingredients are available to them, I would be willing to bet that most of them are made with ketchup.

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In traditional Chinese cooking the sauce would be made with preserved plum wafers (shan jah beng). These rolls of wafers (which Chinese children eat as candy) should be available in most Chinese grocery stores. Of course you can always substitute ketchup, but it will not taste quite the same.

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Any lean, boneless pork can be used such as boneless pork loin or pork chops. You can use either red or green bell pepper but I prefer the red. It is easier to use canned pineapple chunks rather than fresh ones but try to get unsweetened or lightly sweetened ones so that the dish isn’t overly sweet.

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You can always adjust the amount of added sugar if necessary. In fact you may want to hold a little sugar back and add it to the sauce at the end if necessary. Remember that Chinese rice wine vinegars are less sour than cider or regular wine vinegars so you should use less of them if you substitute.

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Difficulty:

Easy

Preparation Time:

60 Minutes

Cooking Time:

30 Minutes

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Marinade:

1 Lb. of Lean Pork (cut into ¾ inch cubes and pound lightly with the back edge of a heavy knife)

1 Egg beaten

1 Teaspoon Dry White Wine

¼ Teaspoon Salt

Pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl and let stand for at least 15 minutes.

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¾ Cup Cornstarch

2 Cups of Oil

Place the pork and the cornstarch in a Gallon Zip-lock bag, seal and shake the contents thoroughly until all of the pieces of pork are completely covered.

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Seasonings:

½ Cup Water Chestnuts each cut in half

½ Cup Bamboo Shoots cut into pieces the size of sugar cubes

1 Small Red (or Green) Bell pepper seeded and cut into ½ inch squares

½ Cup Canned, Unsweetened Pineapple Chunks

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Sauce Mixture:

½ Cup Pineapple Juice (if you use sweetened pineapple, you may want to reduce the added sugar slightly)

2 tablespoons Black Soy Sauce

¼ Cup Chinese Vinegar

¼ Cup Sugar

1 Oz. Shan Jah Beng (preserved plum wafers) separated so that they will dissolve easily (or 2 Tablespoons of Ketchup)

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

½ Cup Warm Water

Mix in a bowl and allow to stand for an hour so that the wafers dissolve

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2 Tablespoons of Cornstarch mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Water

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Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the pork cubes for about 5 minutes until the meat turns a light golden color. Then remove it to a serving dish.
2. Remove 2 tablespoons of oil to a medium sized sauce pan and stir-fry the garlic, peppers, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and pineapple chunks for 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the sauce mixture and heat until it begins to bubble.
4. Stir in the cornstarch water and continue cooking until the sauce thickens.
5. Pour the warm sauce over the pork and serve at once with steamed rice.

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