Cantonese-style Sweet And Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork is a favourite dish among my kids and their cousins. They  love this dish with lots of sauce which is made up of tomato ketchup and other ingredients. Whenever we meet up with  my sisters and their family for a dinner at any Chinese restaurants, the kids would request for Sweet and Sour Pork, each time! 

I was browsing through one of my Chinese cookbooks, and saw this simple recipe of Sweet and Sour Pork, Cantonese style, simplified.  And decided to cook this for our dinner, since I've already taken out a chunk of pork fillet from the freezer and still undecided what to do with it. I have one bell pepper and some red chillies, and seems perfect for this dish and yes, a can of pineapples in my pantry! Doesn't it make you happy when you happen to have all the ingredients at hand? :o) 

This is definitely a different take from the usual Sweet and Sour Pork which we have at Chinese restaurants and the one that I usually cook at home, so I thought that I'd give it a try. This recipe does not use any tomato ketchup or other sauces, instead it uses the juices from the canned pineapple chunks for the sauce, with the addition of brown sugar, rice vinegar and some seasoning of  salt and pepper.

The meat is marinated with a simple mixture of cornflour, eggs, salt and pepper, which are then deep-fried till browned and cooked. You could however use chicken fillet. The peppers are then stir-fried briefly, and the sauce is added in, thicken slightly, and finally, in goes the pre-fried meat, mix everything in a quick stir, dish out and serve hot with rice.

Even though there's not much sauce, it is quite nice. Thumbs up from the kids! I would use a bigger can of canned pineapples the next time, firstly, for more sauce and secondly, we love the pineapples! By the time everyone dig in for the pineapples, there are none left on the plate! This simplified version is a nice choice for a simple weekday dinner.

I'm sharing this with :
Little Thumbs Up, an event hosted by my baking buddy, Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my favourite diy where the selected ingredient for this month is "Pineapple".

And since pineapple is the featured ingredient over at Little Thumbs Up, have a look at what I found a couple of days ago from my potted garden :

Pineapple! My pineapple plant has a small fruit growing. Now I've got to be patient and waif for a few more months, for the harvest! Did you know that it takes about 200 flowers or more, to create this wonderful fruit? Have you seen the flowers of a pineapple before? If not, I'm happy to share with you the pictures of the small light purple beauties taken from my pineapple plant from my potted garden, to view the flowers, click here.

Pineapples, in Chinese language is called, "Wong Lai", meaning, "Lots of Luck Coming Your Way". and is an auspicious fruit to have during the Chinese New Year besides the popular Mandarin Oranges. I am definitely looking forward to "lots of luck coming my way" this year!  :)

Cantonese-style Sweet & Sour Pork
(adapted from "Chinese Food In Minutes" by Ching-He Huang)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon cornflour
250gm pork fillet, cut into 1/4-inch slices
groundnut oil for deep-frying
1 tablespoon freshly grated root ginger
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
1x227gm tin of pineapple chunks, sliced and juice retained
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon clear rice vinegar or cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon cornflour blended with 1 teaspoon  cold water
sea salt and ground white pepper
egg-fried rice to serve

1. Put the egg and cornflour into a bowl and mix to create a batter. Place the pork slices in the mixture and season with salt and white pepper.
2. Heat a wok over a high heat, then fill the wok to one-third of its depth with groundnut oil. Heat until the oil glistens and when a small piece of bread dropped in turns golden brown in 15 seconds and floats to the surface. Using a spider of slotted spoon, carefully add the pork to the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Lift out using the spider of spoon and drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
3. Pour the oil from the wok through a sieve into a heatproof container and save to use later. Return 1 tablespoon oil to the wok and heat until smoking, then add the ginger and pepper chunks and quickly stir in to stop the ginger from catching. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the pineapple and its juice and bring to the bubble over a high heat. Season with soy sauce, vinegar and brown sugar, if using. Then, as the liquid in the wok reduces and boils, add the blended cornflour and stir to thicken.
4. Return the pork to the wok, stir and toss together well so the pork is covered in the sauce, then serve with egg-fried rice.

#15/100

Spicy Tofu and Edamame Beans

This is a lovely and tasty tofu dish. It is the first time that I'm cooking with Edamame Beans (soy beans), which I usually have  at restaurants, but never at home. I use the frozen ones for this dish, and I love it! It's healthy  and delicious. This recipe for Spicy Tofu and Edamame Beans is from Ching-He Huang, ever heard of her? She's a young and talented chef specializing in Chinese cooking. Her recipes are simple, quick and looks delicious. Most of the ingredients used are the basics which you can find in any Chinese kitchen, and that works for me.  

Ever wonder how tofu are made? Well, there's an interesting video here, where it shows exactly that and features Ching-He Huang cooking up this lovely tofu dish.

Rinse and pat dry firm tofu, cut to  1/2 inch thick rectangles.

Frozen Edamame Beans 

 The lovely sweet beans

Tofu are fried and braised for a short while to absorb the flavours 

A delicious plate of tofu is ready ! I love everything about this dish. The tofu has absorbed all the flavours from the soy sauce and balsamic vinegar,  the sweet Edamame beans together with  the aroma and lovely taste of the corianders are just great. Get a good generous bunch of young tender corianders.  This dish is not spicy at all, of course it depends from the heat of the red chillies, for a spicier dish, use chilies with more heat, if you like.

Really good with steamed rice. Perfect for vegetarians.  Enjoy! 

I'm sharing this with Hearth and Soul Hop over at Mom's Sunday Cafe.


Spicy Tofu and Edamame Beans
(recipe courtesy : Ching-He Huang, source from Cooking Channel)
Ingredients
Bean Curd Stir-Fry
2 tablespoons groundnut oil (peanut oil)
14 ounces firm fresh bean curd (firm tofu), drained and cut into 1/2 inch thick rectangles
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoons black rice vinegar (recommended : Chinkiang) or balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes


Edamame Beans
1 tablespoon groundnut oil (peanut oil)
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
water, as needed
3 ounces fresh or frozen edamame beans, thawed
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon black rice vinegar (recommended : Chinkiang) or balsamic vinegar
Handful fresh cilantro leaves and stalks, finely chopped
Serving suggestions : serve with steamed rice


Directions :

To make the bean curd : Heat the groundnut oil in a large flat-bottomed pan over a medium heat. Add the bean curd, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the light soy sauce and cook until the sauce has reduced and the bean curd is browned on one side. Using a small palette knife or fork, lift and turn each piece, careful not to break the bean curd. Cook just to colour the second side.

Add the dark soy sauce, and vinegar, and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Season the dish with the dried chili flakes. Transfer the bean curd to a serving plate and set aside.

To make the edamame : Reheat the pan and add the groundnut oil. Stir-fry the chili for a few seconds, and then add the edamame beans. Add a sprinkle of water to help create steam, and cook for less than 1 minute. Season the edamame with the light soy sauce, and vinegar, then stir in the chopped cilantro.

To serve, pour the edamame beans over the bean curd and serve immediately. For a fuller meal, serve with steamed rice.

Notes from Ching-He Huang :

This is a tasty nutritious dish. Here soya beans that have been made into bean curd are introduced to fresh soya beans (edamame) and the contrast is fabulous, a vegetarian marriage made in culinary heaven. Simple to prepare in a matter of minutes.

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