Sweet and sour pork (Go lo yuk)

The key to this dish is the perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, and the sauce should be just thick enough to coat all the ingredients, leaving the pork crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

Go lo yuk (Sweet and sour pork) Credit: Alana Dimou

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Sweet and sour sauce

Makes 1 litre (4 cups)

• 100 g yellow rock sugar
• 200 g Chinese brown sugar or soft brown sugar
• 1 lemon, halved
• 500 ml (2 cups) rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp fine sea salt
• 200 g ketchup
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce

Sweet and sour pork

• 1 kg pork ribs, cut into 4 cm cubes
• 2 litres canola oil (or other cooking oil)
• cornflour, for coating
• ½ onion, diced
• ½ red capsicum, diced
• ½ capsicum, diced
• ½ capsicum, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
• 375 ml (1½ cups) Sweet and sour sauce
• 12–16 pieces diced tinned pineapple
• steamed rice, to serve

Marinade

• 1 small egg
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tbsp cornflour 
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

Instructions

1. For the sweet and sour sauce, dissolve the rock sugar and brown sugar in 250 ml (1 cup) water in a small bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice into the mixture and stir.
2. Pour the rice wine vinegar into a medium glass or enamelled cast-iron saucepan (the sauce is too acidic for a metal pan). Bring the vinegar to the boil, add the salt and mix until it has dissolved. Strain in the sugar and lemon water (if some of the sugar still hasn't dissolved, return it to the heat until it has). Stir in the sauces. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and taste the sauce. It should be sweet and sour with a background savoury note. Adjust the flavour with sugar, vinegar and salt if needed.
3. Let the sauce cool, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Just make sure you use a clean, dry spoon or ladle to take the sauce out.
4. For the sweet and sour pork, rinse the pork and pat dry. This is important – if you don't dry the pork thoroughly, it will affect the crispness later on when you fry it.
5. To make the marinade, combine all the ingredients, except the oil, in a large glass or ceramic dish. Add the pork and turn to coat in the marinade. Leave it for 1–2 minutes, then add the oil and mix well.
6. Pour the cooking oil into a large wok or heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and bring it up to about 160°C or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil browns in 30–35 seconds.
7. Meanwhile, lightly coat the pork pieces with cornflour, shaking off the excess.
8. Carefully lower the pork into the oil and fry, untouched, for 1 minute. You don't want to move it around otherwise the flour coating might drop off. After a minute, gently stir the oil so the pieces loosen up naturally, then continue to fry for another 3 minutes. Remove the pork with a slotted spoon.
9. Increase the heat to high and bring the oil temperature up to 190°C or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil browns in 10 seconds. Return the pork to the oil and fry for another 30–60 seconds until golden brown and very crispy. Remove the pork and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil.
10. Reheat the oil over medium heat, add the onion and saute for 30 seconds, then add the capsicum and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the garlic and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Pour in the shaoxing wine and the sweet and sour sauce and bring to the boil. Add the pineapple and simmer for 10 seconds.
11. Add the fried pork to the sauce, then immediately remove from the heat and keep stirring. There should be just enough sauce to coat all the ingredients. Serve immediately. With rice of course!

 

Hong Kong Local by ArChan Chan, published by Smith Street Books (RRP $39.99). Photography by Alana Dimou.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.