Crispy Battered Sweet and Sour Pork

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This Crispy Battered Sweet and Sour Pork recipe is juicy and tender. Made with a tempura-style batter instead of a floured crumb and coated in a delicious sweet and sour sauce.

Now I cannot let Shannon have all the fun, so I wanted to bring you one of my favourite Chinese dishes Crispy Battered Sweet and Sour Pork.

Next to beef and black bean and Honey Chicken, this is up there in my top three to order when we go to a Chinese restaurant.

But these days, it’s easier just to make these yummy dishes at home. And I am going to show you how you can too.

What is the best cut of pork to use

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the recipe, it is essential to know the good cuts of pork to use for this recipe.

Now you could use any cut, but you want your meat to be tender and juicy.

There are two best cuts to use depending on your budget, which is the shoulder or belly.

Both contain a good amount of fat through the meat, making it tender while cooking it in this recipe.

Is sweet and sour pork made with pineapple?

In most cases, fresh pineapple pieces are added along with the other vegetables that get stir-fried through with the meat and sauce. Another is, the juice can be incorporated into the sauce.

However, I don’t add any pineapple at all in this recipe, but with good reason. Shannon is highly allergic to pineapple and can cause anaphylactic shock.

So I have had to adapt this recipe, but don’t worry; it tastes like sweet and sour pork. And if you want to add fresh pineapple to it. I will let you know in the method when and where to add the pineapple. 

How to make Crispy Battered Sweet and Sour Pork at home

Although this recipe might seem like it has a lot of ingredients and quite a few steps, it is pretty simple to make. And the more and more you cook it, the easier it will get.

Vegetable Ingredients

• Pineapple Pieces (fresh or tinned)
• Green Capsicum or Bell Pepper
• Red Capsicum or Bell Pepper
• Yellow Capsicum or Bell Pepper
• Red Onion
• Peanut or Vegetable Oil

Pork Marinade Ingredients

• Pork Belly or Shoulder
• Garlic Salt
• Light Soy Sauce

Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients

• Ketchup
• Brown Sugar
• White Vinegar
• Cornflour or Cornstarch
• Table Salt
• Water

Batter Ingredients

• Plain Flour or All-Purpose Flour
• Cornflour or Cornstarch
• Baking Powder
• Table Salt
• Soda Water
• Vegetable Oil (for deep frying)

Method:

I used pork belly for this recipe, which I bought from our local Butcher Club. This way, I was able to buy it with the rind removed.

However, you can buy this from your local supermarket and remove the skin yourself.

You need to make sure there is a good amount of meat on the belly; around two cms of meat is good.

Preparing the Pork and Marinade

If you need to remove the skin of the belly or shoulder. Cut off any big chunky pieces of fat if you do not want big fatty parts on the meat.

But make sure you do not remove all the fat.

Cut the meat into 2cm cubes. It would be best if you have the pieces a good size for deep frying. Too small and the meat will dry out, too big and they won’t cook right trough.

Place the pork, garlic salt and light soy sauce into a bowl and massage the garlic salt and soy sauce into the pork pieces.

Set aside for 20 minutes uncovered.

Making the Sweet and Sour Sauce

Combine ketchup, brown sugar, white vinegar, cornflour, salt and water into a bowl.

Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined and there are no lumps.

Then set aside.

Cutting the Vegetables and Pineapple

You can cut your capsicum and onion into long thin strips as I have done, or you can cut them into squares.

I find cutting them into strips allows them to spread better through the meal.

Cut it into medium-sized pieces for the pineapple if you are using fresh, or drain the tinned ones well before adding to the mixture.

Making the Batter

Now it is time to make the batter. But before you do this, add 2 litres of vegetable oil to a large pot. You can use a deep fryer if you wish, but I find deep frying battered foods in a pot is much easier.

You need the oil to reach 180°C for the first fry, and if you are using a pot to fry, you can use a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil.

On to the batter! Add plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, table salt, and soda water in a large mixing bowl.

Note: always add the soda water last.

Using a whisk, gently whisk the ingredients until just combined. Don’t over whisk or do it fast as you’ll lose the soda’s effect on the batter.

First Fry:

Add the marinated pork pieces to the batter and mix around to coat. Once the oil reaches 180°C, quickly place approximately ten pieces of pork into the hot oil. Starting from one side of the pot and working your way around to the other side.

Tip: don’t overcrowd the pot or place pieces on top of each other otherwise, the pork will stick together. 

Allow the pork to fry for about 30 secs before slowly moving them about in the pot.

Don’t stir them. You just want to stop the pork from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Fry for approximately 5 minutes or until the batter is a light golden brown, and then remove the pork from the oil and place them onto a cooling rack or paper towel to drain.

Note: Monitor your oil temperature and adjust your heat on the stove accordingly to try and maintain the 180°C.

Tip: the oil temperature will drop when the battered pork goes into the oil for the first fry.

Once all the pork is done, allow them to sit for a few minutes before doing a second fry.

Second Fry

Bring your oil temperature up to 200°C. Place half of the pork back into the oil and fry until they are a slightly darker golden brown, around 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from the oil and drain on a cooling rack or paper towel and repeat with the other half.

Then place all pork aside until you are ready for it again.

Stir-Frying the Vegetables and Pineapple

Place one tablespoon of peanut or vegetable oil into a hot wok or frypan. Place all your chopped up vegetables and the chopped up pineapple into the wok and stir continuously until the capsicum and onion are soft.

Then remove from the wok into a bowl and set aside.

Putting it all together.

With the wok still on high heat, pour the sweet and sour sauce into the wok and stir until it simmers, then allow to simmer for five minutes.

Place your battered pork, stir-fried vegetables and pineapple into the wok.

Using a flat wooden spoon (if possible), fold the sauce through the pork, vegetables and pineapple until fully coated and the pork is warmed through.

Don’t stir as it can cause the batter to come off the pork; just lift from the bottom of the wok or frypan and flip over.

Serving

Serve with a side of white rice, fried rice or on a bed of Singapore noodles.

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