Sweet And Sour Pork/Gu Lo Yoke

This dish must be older than i am. This will be the first dish that we, as children, will vote for everytime we ate out. Somehow, the craze faded as we grew as there were more choices in the menu. Now, if anyone said to order this dish, we would be scolded and said that this dish is only for 'Kway Lohs". There are endless variations of this quintessential chinese dish but it is always tastes best homemade. This dish is very easy to prepare and the sauce can be adjusted to your taste., unlike what you will get from the chinese restaurants in America where Ping-pong ball-sized pork are laced with red food coloring and the sauce overly sweet.


Ingredients:

1 lb pork butt/shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

3 tbsp self-raising flour
1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cups vegetable oil,

1 medium carrot, peeled and cut thinly on the diagonal
1 small cucumber - seeds removed and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges and separated
One 8-ounce can pineapple chunks, well drained (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced

Sauce:

1/2 cup water
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp soya sauce
3 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Method:

In a medium bowl, mix the pork together with the flour, rice wine, salt, pepper, and egg, making sure to coat each piece of pork well. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Bring marinated pork to room temperature before cooking.

Line a plate with paper towels.

In a large wok, heat oil over high heat until it reaches 350 F, drop the pork a few pieces at a time into the hot oil, ensuring the pieces don’t stick together. Fry in batches, 7 to 8 pieces at a time, until golden brown and crispy. When done, remove the pork, shaking off excess oil, and drain on paper towels.

Use a wire mesh strainer to remove any debris from the oil and bring oil temperature up to 350 degrees F before frying the next batch. Repeat with remaining pork.

Drain the remaining oil and wipe down the wok with a paper towel.

Heat 2 tablespoons of fresh oil over medium-high heat. Fry the garlic until fragrant.

Toss in the onions and carrots and stir for about a minute. Add the cucumbers and stir-fry until tender-crisp. (If you prefer softer carrots, cook ahead by microwaving or steaming.)
Add the pineapple, give everything a quick stir, remove and leave aside.

Mix the sauce ingredients together and put into wok, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously. Once the sauce starts to bubble and thicken, reduce the heat to low.

Add the cooked pork nuggets and the cooked vegetable , toss to coat. Dish out and serve immediately with white rice.

Note:

You may deep-fry pork the nuggets ahead of time. Refrigerate or freeze until needed. Then re-heat with a quick dip in hot oil or in the oven. Don’t forget to bring the meat to room temperature first.

Serves