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Crawfords Butchers (020 8422 4922)

39 Oldfields Circus, Northolt UB5 4RR (map)

Opening hours
Monday-Friday: 8am – 7pm
Saturday: 8am – 6pm
Sunday: 10am – 4pm

Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and Sour Pork is one of my favourite dishes. This is a very easy dish that will please anyone. Don’t be put off by all the ingredients, it’s all in the preparation. Get all the slicing and dicing before you start cooking.

You will need:

400g pork tenderloin fillet, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons rice flour or potato flour but cornflour is just as good

For the sweet and sour sauce:

150g caster sugar
150ml rice wine or dry sherry
1 lime, 1 lemon juiced. (Half a grapefruit is better)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 red chillies, finely diced (keep the seeds if you like it spicy)
2 tsp chilli flakes
5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated

And

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 medium peppers, sliced
½ small pineapple, cut into small pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

Method

To cook the pork

Heat vegetable oil to 190ºC or until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown

Coat the pork strips with vegetable oil. (not the stuff you’re heating)

Place the salt and cornflour into a bowl, add the pork and toss to coat each piece thoroughly

Lower the pork pieces carefully into the fat fryer and cook a few at a time, for a couple of minutes

Remove the pork pieces from the hot oil, and drain onto kitchen paper

For the sauce

Heat a frying pan until hot, add the sugar and gently heat till it becomes caramel, then carefully add the rice wine, grapefruit juice and soy sauce and bring to the boil

Add the chopped chillies, chilli flakes and ginger and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit

Then

Heat a wok until very hot, add the vegetable oil, onion, peppers and pineapple and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until just tender

Add the garlic, cooked pork and the sauce, cook for 1-2 minutes, tossing the pork so it gets a good covering of the sauce

Serve with boiled, steamed or even better, egg fried rice