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China, Asia

Tangcu Liji (Home-Style Sweet and Sour Pork)

Northern China's favorite home dish: pork tenderloin strips fried twice until crackly, then tossed fast in a glossy sugar-and-vinegar sauce.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time40 min
Marinating+ 10 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsNever leave hot oil unattended and keep water away from it. If the oil starts to smoke, turn off the heat; if it catches fire, cover with a lid, never use water.

Method

  1. Cut the tenderloin into sticks about 1 cm thick and 6 cm long. Put them in a bowl with the salt, Shaoxing wine and white pepper, massage in and leave for 10 minutes.

    Add in this stepPork tenderloin 250 gSalt 2 pinchShaoxing wine (or dry sherry) 1 tspWhite pepper 1 pinch

  2. In a small bowl mix the sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and sauce water. In another small cup stir the sauce starch with 1 tbsp water. Get these ready now; once you start frying there is no time.

    Add in this stepSugar 2½ tbspRice vinegar 2½ tbspKetchup 2 tbspLight soy sauce 1 tspWater for the sauce 60 mlPotato starch for the sauce 1 tsp

  3. In another bowl mix the potato starch, egg and batter water into a thick batter, like spoonable yogurt. Pat the pork dry with paper towels, add it to the batter and coat evenly.

    Add in this stepPotato starch 60 gEgg 1Water for the batter 25 ml

  4. Pour the frying oil into a 20 cm ×2 pot to about 3 cm deep, never more than a third of the pot's height (×2 or ×3 is the number of batches). Heat over medium-high heat for about to 170°C: a dry wooden chopstick dipped in should give off a steady stream of small bubbles. Turn to medium heat to hold the temperature. Lower the pork in piece by piece, away from you, so the strips do not stick together. Fry in total, until pale golden and firm, and lift onto a rack.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil for frying 950 ml

    medium-high heat→medium heat

  5. Raise the heat to high heat to bring the oil to 190°C (the chopstick bubbles hard). Fry the pork again in the same batches, in total, until deep golden and it sounds crisp when lifted. Drain on the rack.

    high heat

  6. Put 1 tbsp of the frying oil in a 24 cm wok or pan, pour in the sauce and bubble over medium heat for . When the bubbles grow large and glossy, stir the starch mixture again, pour it in and stir quickly until thickened.

    medium heat

  7. Add the fried pork and toss over high heat for just to coat. Sprinkle with sesame and serve immediately; the crust softens if it sits.

    Add in this stepWhite sesame seeds 1 tsp

    high heat

Cook's tip

Double frying is the secret: the first fry cooks the inside, the second drives moisture out of the crust. Leave out the ketchup and use only sugar and vinegar for a more old-school flavor. Let leftover oil cool completely before straining or disposing of it.

Cooking it at camp

Deep-frying at a campsite is not recommended: a pot of hot oil can tip, and wind can spread flames. Instead shallow-fry the battered pork in 1 cm of oil in a pan over medium heat, 3 minutes per side, then toss in the sauce. Set the burner on flat, stable ground.