Sweet and Sour Pork Chops (New Variation)

Most of my Australian friends like this classic Cantonese dish, sweet and sour pork. They just love the sweet and sour sauce that goes very well with rice. However, when they go to some Chinese restaurants, they are very disappointed. The restaurants use deep-fried fatty pork ribs, coated with an MSG-laden thick sauce.

Here’s my version that uses pork loin chops and that makes healthier, yet enjoy the classic yummy sweet and sour sauce.

brown sugar in pieces (片糖)

Ingredients:

• 5 Pork loin chops (about 265 grams)
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 green capsicum
• 1/2 red capsicum
• 3 slides of pineapple (fresh or tinned)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon soya sauce
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger juice
• 2 teaspoons Shao-xing wine
• 1/2 teaspoon corn flour
• a dash of salt & white pepper

Sweet & sour sauce ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 49 grams brown sugar in pieces (片糖, chopped into small pieces)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup

Thickening:

• 1/2 teaspoon corn flour
• 2 tablespoon water

Method:

1. Rinse and dry pork chops, tenderize them briefly with the back of a chopper, sprinkle salt and pepper. Cut each pork chop into 3 pieces, then blend in soya sauce, ginger juice and wine. Leave them for 30 minutes.
2. Wash green and red capsicum and cut them into pieces. Cut pineapple into bite sizes.
3. Briefly coat the marinated pork chops with some corn flour. Fry them on medium-heat pan until golden. Set aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil to sauté onion until soft, then add minced garlic, green & red capsicums. Sprinkle a dash of salt, stir fry a while until the vegetables turn soft. Dish up.
5. Pour in sweet and sour sauce ingredients with brown sugar on low heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 1 minute, uncovered. Add thickening to the sauce if you desire. Put back the pork chops and stir well. Turn off the heat, add pineapple. Dish up and serve hot.