Recipe: Sweet & Sour Fried Pork

Last week, as I was attempting to plan my menu for the week, I started to think about my grandma's awesome sweet and sour fried pork. I swear, the things I miss the most after moving away from home are my grandma's home cooked meals and soups. Everything else, I basically can get by without. Thankfully, she still does pack me foods and soups on occasion when we see her on a weekend. I mean what would I do without the love of my grandmother? Probably nothing, haha!

Anyway, as I venture out to learn to cook on my own and in my own kitchen, I realized that every time I attempt a copy cat recipe of hers, it never quite turns out the same. Although this one is a little bit different from hers, I felt it was still good enough to share with you guys. Trust me, its nothing like the Chinese take out that you can get every night. Despite the frying, which takes up the most time, this recipe is easy to put together and can make a very satisfying meal.

Sweet &Sour Fried Pork 
Ingredients:

1-1.5 lb. pork (You can use any cut, I actually used pork belly for mine. Try to pick a cut that has at least a little bit of fat on it, that way it won't be too dry)
1 medium onion
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 tomato, optional
1 can pineapple, crushed or slices in pineapple juice (You can use as much or as little pineapple as you prefer, also if you have fresh available, it tastes better)
4 T cornstarch or flour
2 T panko crumbs unflavored, optional
1 egg
vegetable oil
cooking spray

Sauce: 4 T ketchup
a splash of pineapple juice
a splash of white vinegar
1 T water
cornstarch
* Note: in some local supermarkets, you can buy a premade sweet and sour sauce that works just as well. You are welcome to use this instead of making your own sauce and it'll taste just as great!

1. Wash and dry the pork thoroughly, then, cut into bite sized pieces
2. In a bowl, large enough to hold the pork, crack the egg and mix until evenly yellow. Then add the pork bites and coat thoroughly, then set aside. You are welcome to skip this step if you like, but I prefer to coat my pork with egg so that the flour and panko will stick better.
3. Wash and cut all of the vegetables in bite sized pieces as well and set aside
4. In a small separate bowl, mix the cornstarch (or flour) together with the panko crumbs. If you chose to omit the panko flakes, just put the flour in a separate bowl for dipping.
5. In a small soup pan, fill the bottom of the pan with at least an inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil on medium low. To test if the oil is ready for frying, stick a chopstick into the oil and touch the bottom of the pan. If small bubbles start to rise, your oil is ready for frying.
6. Set aside a larger plate that is lined with some paper towels to rest your pork after frying.
7. When ready to fry, use a fork and a spoon to transfer the pork into the flour mixture. Note that you should transfer the pork in small sections to ensure that every piece gets coated well. 
8. Transfer the floured pork into the pan for frying. I would suggest to do this in small batches as you need to keep an eye on the fryer. If the pork is browning too quickly, adjust the heat. Note that you need to fry the pork for at least 5 minutes to make sure that it is cooked. Should you need to test it, take out one piece and cut it in half, making sure that the center is cooked thoroughly. You do not want to feed undercooked pork to anyone!
9. As soon as the pork is cooked, take them out of the oil and rest them on the large plate that you had set aside earlier. When all of the pork has been fried, set aside and let it cool. This step allows the pork to get as crispy as possible.
10. While the pork is cooling, heat up some cooking spray in a frying pan. Use a frying pan that is large enough to fit all of your vegetables and pork.
11. Add the onions to the pan and cook for two minutes.
12. Add the peppers and cook for another minute.
13. Add the tomato (optional) and pineapple at this time and cook for another minute.
14. While the vegetables are cooking, start preparing the sauce. In a small bowl, add the ketchup, a splash of vinegar and a splash of pineapple juice from the can that you used earlier for the pineapples. Mix the ingredients together until it is well combined. At this point, you want to test your sauce and see if you need to add any extra ketchup, vinegar or pineapple juice. It is very important not to skip the taste test as you need to adjust the acidity and sweetness to your liking. 
15. Add this mixture to your vegetables and let it cook for a minute.
16. In another bowl, mix together the water and a little bit of cornstarch. A little bit goes a long way for the cornstarch, so make sure you do not use more than a small pinch. Add this mixture into the vegetables to help slightly thicken the sauce.
17. A minute later, after the sauces and vegetables have heated up, grab a large serving bowl and transfer the vegetables and sauce into it. When you are ready to serve, add the fried pork at the very last minute and mix it up and serve.

With all of the vegetables and the protein, this can serve as a one dish meal. For sides, you can even serve this with white rice or fried rice! Although I chose to use pork for this sweet & sour dish, this also works out with other meats like beef and chicken as well. I hope this recipe was a helpful guideline for you. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

Happy eating with much love from our family to yours!