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Sweet and Sour Pork

method

1. Prepare marinade for pork. Mix cornflour with water to dissolve then add egg yolks, soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and mix well.
2. Trim pork and cut into 2cm chunks, immerse in marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight if possible for best flavour
3. Prepare ingredients for sweet and sour sauce. Crush garlic and grate ginger. Finely slice pineapple. Using vegetable peeler, finely peel lengths from carrot making ribbons. Cut cucumber in half lengthways, remove seeds with teaspoon and slice on the diagonal. Cut capsicum into thin strips. Cut tomato into 1.5cm chunks. Set prepared ingredients aside.
4. Place rice vinegar, rice wine, sugar and salt in medium saucepan and stir over medium high heat until sugar dissolves. Once boiling, add crushed garlic and grated ginger. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
5. Add other prepared components that are set aside and simmer for a further 3 minutes to semi-cook fruits and vegetables.
6. Add soy to sauce. Make a paste of cornflour and water and stir into sauce. Bring to a simmer to thicken slightly. Keep warm
7. For pork, combine plain flour and extra cornflour. Add to marinated pork and mix well.
8. Heat 4cm vegetable oil in wok or medium size saucepan until hot (180ºC).
9. Deep fry pork in batches over high heat for one minute to seal. Remove from wok and drain on kitchen paper.
10. Once pork has been semi cooked return it all to hot wok and deep fry for a further 3 minutes until lightly brown, crispy and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.
11. Serve crisp pork with sweet and sour sauce (topped with shredded spring onions if liked) and accompanied by fragrant white rice or cauliflower rice.

cooks notes

• We served this with fragrant basmati rice, simply cook 1½ cups of rice in 3 cups boiling salted water with lid on for 11 minutes. Allow to complete cooking off the heat with lid on for further 5 minutes.
• As an alternative make cauliflower rice. See recipe here.
• To reduce calories, make pork without the batter; stir fry meat in wok for 4-5 minutes, until cooked through then add to sauce.
• The rice vinegar used in this recipe is available from Asian supermarkets and makes this dish taste wonderful. It is not as strong as European style vinegars.
• Using fresh pineapple cuts back the cloying sweetness as opposed to tinned.
• I prefer using maple syrup in place of refined sugar.