expecting the taste to lose out a little, but wow, I think it’s possibly one of the best sweet and sour pork I’ve eaten! I wish I could let you taste how good it was, but since I can’t, do try out this recipe and taste it for yourself!
Recently, Aw’s Market reached out to me to ask me to sample their products. They are an online platform connecting Singapore’s fresh markets to customers. They deliver groceries with the highest quality from local wet markets and even offer customisation services! That means you could request them to do the menial work for you – think deboning, fat trimming and even scaling and gutting of your fish.
So I told them I was intending to make sweet and sour pork and they recommended using their pork shoulder flap meat which some of you may know as the armpit cut/不见天肉/飞机肉. It is basically the part between the shoulder and the belly, so it has a nice layer of fats, giving the sweet and sour pork a tender and springy texture. They even offered to cut the pork into bite-sized pieces for me which was very thoughtful. If you’re tempted to use other cuts of pork for your sweet and sour pork – don’t. I can’t emphasize enough how perfect this cut of meat was for making sweet and sour pork! In fact, I expected the armpit cut to be more expensive than the shoulder and belly part since a pig probably has less armpit meat than shoulder and belly meat, but surprisingly it’s even cheaper!
Here are the main ingredients you’ll need: pork meat (marinated with salt, cornstarch and egg), red bell pepper, green bell pepper, pineapple, yellow onion and the sweet and sour sauce (not pictured here).
The sweet and sour sauce is a simple combination of ketchup, rice vinegar and sugar. As I mentioned, I’ve seen some recipes that call for uncommon ingredients like plum sauce and Worcestershire sauce, but trust me, you don’t need those. I assure you the above three ingredients I mentioned are good enough!
After marinating the pork meat for 15-20 minutes, coat them in cornstarch and deep fry them till golden in colour. It should take around 5 minutes. Remove the pork and drain them on paper towels.
In a frypan, add around 1-2 tbsp of oil. Add onions, red bell pepper and green bell pepper and fry until they’re softened, for around 2-3 minutes.
Add pineapple and fry for another 30 seconds.
Add in the sweet and sour sauce mixture and combine evenly.
Lastly, add in the deep fried pork and stir fry until all the pork are evenly coated with the sauce.
And that’s it! Serve with some piping hot rice.
This was seriously delicious! Possibly one of the dishes I’m most satisfied with to date. The pork was fresh and had enough fats, giving it a juicy and springy texture. The cornstarch gave the pork a surprisingly crispy texture which remained even after stir-frying in the sauce. The sauce was a good balance between sweet and sour. The vegetables were crunchy yet soft enough to my liking. I’m usually quite critical of the food I cook, but I have to admit that every bite of this dish tasted like heaven! I think this dish will be making more appearances on my dinner table from now on.
If you’re interested to know more about Aw’s market, check them out here. They do free deliveries for orders above $50!
Sweet and Sour Pork
Ingredients
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ green bell pepper chopped
- 1 small can pineapple drained weight: 130g (chopped)
MARINADE
- 300 g pork armpit bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 egg
DEEP FRYING
- 75 g cornstarch
SAUCE
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar less if you prefer
- 4 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Marinate pork meat with salt, cornstarch and egg for 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Combine ketchup, rice vinegar and sugar to form sweet and sour sauce. Chop yellow onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and pineapple into bite-size pieces.
- Remove pork meat from refrigerator and coat evenly with cornstarch. Deep fry pork until golden (not brown), for around 4-5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- In a frypan, add 1-2 tbsp of oil. Add onions, red bell pepper and green bell pepper and fry till softened, for around 2-3 minutes. Add pineapple and fry for another 30 seconds.
- Add sweet and sour sauce mixture and combine evenly. Add deep fried pork and stir fry until evenly coated with the sauce.
