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Sweet and Sour Pork

This is not the "classic" PF Chang's recipe; I love Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork and the way they made it at Changs left something to be desired. Gú lóuh yuhk is a very old recipe (it translates to "ancient pork").
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword PF Changs
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

  • 10 oz pork loin
  • 1/4 red bell pepper
  • 1/4 yellow bell pepper
  • 1/4 green bell pepper
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1/4 yellow onion
  • 4 oz pineapple
  • 4 cups oil

Pork Marinade

  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce NOT dark​
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch

Sweet and Sour Pork Sauce

  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 0.50 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp water

Instructions

Velvet Pork

  • Slice 10 oz pork loin parallel to the grain. Then, slice perpendicular to the grain, creating 1/4" to 1/2" square pieces.
  • Add garlic salt and light soy sauce to diced pork; massage into seasoning into meat for 1 minute.
  • Pour beaten egg over seasoned pork and massage for another 30 seconds.
  • Marinate pork for 30 minutes - 24 hours

Prep Vegetables

  • Cut vegetables and pineapple into bite-siced pieces

Prep Sauce

  • Add all ingredients to small bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine. Reserve for stir fry.

Coat Pork

  • Remove marinating pork from refrigerator. Sprinkle flour over top. Mix flour into pork by hand until the flour becomes a thick batter. If necessary, add a dash of water or two to make sure the batter is thin enough to coat all the pork equally
  • Toss pork in cornstarch to coat, a few pieces at a time

Double fry pork

  • FIrst fry: Heat the oil to 300° to 350°F. Carefully transfer the pork into the wok and fry for 7 to 8 minutes BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO OVERFILL WOK. As you transfer, squeeze the pork to help the flour stick more.
  • Leave the pork alone during the first 1 to 2 minutes of frying; disturbing it will cause the flour and cornstarch to come loose. Transfer the pork out with a slotted spoon once the pork starts browning and crisping.
  • Second fry: For the second fry, heat the oil to 400°F and fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the pork out with a slotted spoon.

Finish

  • After frying, empty almost all the oil from the wok to save for future cooking.
  • Combine reserved ingredients into the wok in a few stages:
  • Stirfry chopped vegetables 30 seconds.
  • Add the pineapple slices and stirfry for another 30 seconds or until just beginning to char around the edges
  • Reserve veggies and pineapples.
  • Reduce sauce in wok for 1 to 2 minutes, until boiling hard and beginning to thicken.
  • Return reserved pork, pineapple, and veggies to the wok. Stirfry for 1 to 2 minutes. Keep an eye on the sauce during this stage - if the sugars begin to burn, turn out of wok immediately
  • Serve