Guo bao rou (Dongbei-style sweet and sour pork)

This sweet-and-sour pork from Harbin in northeastern China is a little lighter and less sweet than its Cantonese counterpart, and is twice-fried for a crispier coating. The pork is sliced thicker and soaked first in a mixture of water and bicarbonate of soda to ensure it stays tender and juicy.

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 400 g pork tenderloin
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• salt, to season
• 175 g (1 cup) potato starch
• 750 ml (3 cups) vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 2 cm piece ginger, julienned
• 4 spring onions, cut on a very sharp diagonal

Sauce

• 110 g (½ cup) sugar
• 125 ml (½ cup) rice vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Marinating time: 10 minutes

Instructions

1. Slice the pork tenderloin to about 3 mm in thickness. Place into a bowl of cold water with the bicarbonate of soda and massage the meat for about 1 minute. Stand for 10 minutes, then rinse well. Squeeze out any excess moisture, then place in another bowl.
2. Add the soy sauce and Shaoxing wine to the pork and season with a little salt. Combine the potato starch with 250 ml (1 cup) water and mix into the pork.
3. For the sauce, place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.
4. Place the oil for deep frying in a heavy-based saucepan over medium high heat and bring to 160˚C. Fry the individual slices of pork for about 4 minutes. Remove from the wok, then increase the heat of the oil to 200˚C and fry the pork again for about 1 minute or until crisp. Remove from the wok.
5. Add the sauce to the wok and bring to a simmer. Season with salt, then add the ginger, spring onions and pork and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

 

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.