Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients

• 500 g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes
• 80 g cornflour
• 1 egg, beaten
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 green pepper, cut into squares
• 1 onion, cut into petals
• 200 g pineapple, in chunks
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

Method

1. Season the pork

   Toss the pork with a pinch of salt and a splash of soy and leave 10 minutes. Shoulder rather than loin — the fat is what keeps it juicy through two rounds of frying.

   10 min

2. Coat

   Dip each piece in beaten egg, then press it into the cornflour so it is thickly and unevenly coated. The ragged bits are what turn into the crunchy edges.

3. Fry twice

   Fry at 170°C until pale gold and cooked through, rest five minutes, then fry again at 190°C for a minute. The second fry drives off surface moisture and is the only way the coating survives the sauce.

   10 min

4. Stir-fry the vegetables

   In a spoonful of the oil in a very hot wok, stir-fry the onion, pepper and garlic for a minute, then the pineapple. They should stay crunchy — this is not where you cook them soft.

   2 min

5. Sauce and toss

   Mix the ketchup, vinegar, sugar and soy, pour into the wok and bubble until glossy and syrupy, then take off the heat, add the pork and toss once. Toss and serve immediately: every extra second in the sauce costs you crunch.