Sweet And Sour Pork Strips (糖醋里脊）

INTRODUCTION

First of all, i have to apologize that I have used the wrong title for all the images. It should be “sweet and sour loin strips” rather than “sweet and sour tenderloin strips”.However, you can either use loin or tenderloin stripes for this recipe though tenderloin give you a slightly softer texture than loin meat.

I have the habit to stuff my freezer and chiller full for the Chinese New Year.. It is also some Chinese beliefs that having all these foods in the fridge will mean you have food to eat whole year round. So usually, I will have items from meat, to seafood to cakes to vegetables to fruits and etc..

While I was buying the meat for the fridge, I have accidentally bought a piece of pork loin.. Very frankly, I have never bought this type of meat before . In fact, I am very new to cooking this type of rather tough meat… I have no choice but to goggle for a recipe and I found a recipe that I liked, that is sweet and sour loin strips..

I knew this is a rather famous dish and I read through several recipes and come out with the following recipe.. As expected, kids loved this as it is sweet and sour and the meat is not as tough as what I thought…

For those who know Mandarin, as per Chinese encyclopaedia , Bai Ke, it was written that : 糖醋里脊是经典汉族名菜之一。在浙江菜、鲁菜、川菜、粤菜和淮菜里都有此菜，以鲁菜的糖醋里脊最负盛名。糖醋里脊以猪里脊肉为主材，配以面粉，淀粉，醋等作料，酸甜可口，让人食欲大开。

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: Adult servings of 3-4

Marinating ingredients

250 grams of pork loin or sirloin strips （里脊肉条）
2 cm ginger – pounded and juice extracted （姜汁）
4 tablespoons of corn starch （生粉）
1 egg white （蛋清）
1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine （料酒）
Dashes of white pepper （胡椒粉）
Pinches of salt （盐巴）

Sweet and sour sauce

8 tablespoons of plain water (清水）
4 tablespoons of tomato sauce （番茄酱）
4 tablespoons of white vinegar or black vinegar （白醋或黑醋）
4 tablespoons of white sugar （白糖）
1 tablespoons of corn starch （生粉）
2 tablespoon of cooking oil （食用油）
1 teaspoon of minced garlic （蒜蓉）

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Cut the pork loin or tenderloin into about 1 cm x 1 cm x 4 cm long or your preferred sizes. Sizes shall not be overly small as when it is too small, the loin will become tough when it is over cooked. Marinate the pork loin with all the ingredients listed as “marinating ingredients” for at least 15 minutes.

In a pot with adequate oil, when the oil is about 60% hot (150 degree Celsius) put the pork strips in the hot oil and deep fry for 2-3 minutes. Darin and set aside. When the oil reached about 70% hot (175 degree Celsius), deep fried again the pot stripes again for another 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside. It is ok if the internal is not cooked as the remaining heat will continue to heat the meat after it was drained. Overcooked meat will become hard and chewy. (note: if this twice deep frying is too difficult for you, you can start the deep frying at about 80% hot and continue to deep fried until the external is lightly golden brown. The main purpose of deep frying twice is to make the batter crispier but it need practises. You can also substitute 1 tablespoon of corn starch with rice flour and it will help the batter crispier)

Meanwhile, put the tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, water and starch in a bowl, stir until sugar dissolved. In a frying pan, put 2 tablespoons of hot oil, sauté the minced garlic until fragrant. Pour the starch solution onto the pan and stir fry until it almost thicken. Off the heat and add the pork strips. Stir until well mixed.. Dish up, sprinkle with white sesame seeds and best served hot as a dish in a standard Chinese meal.

CONCLUSION

I believed most kids will like this dish.. If you do not like this pork, you can always used chicken, or even fish stripes. I have also ever seen the hawker centre used French fries to substitute for the meat. The same recipe can also be used for pork ribs or pork cubes. Just remember that the ratio of the classic sweet and sour sauce are : water 2: sugar 1: tomato sauce 1: vinegar 1.

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

For more recipes, you can refer to my RECIPE INDEX

(updated as at 26 November 2014) here and you can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts. Also follow me at INSTAGRAM or TSU, a new social network for some more personal sharing other than recipes.