Cooking Chinese Sweet & Sour Pork

Featuring Chef Susu

Our featured chef, Su Wang, grew up in the city of Dalian, China, learning to cook from a large extended family. She played volleyball for and received her degree in economics from Nankai University and currently resides in Fort Collins where she teaches traditional Chinese cooking classes for the Confucius Institute.

Ingredients to Gather Ahead of Time

• Lean pork
• Corn starch
• Water
• White sesame seeds
• Tomato sauce, vinegar, and sugar OR ketchup
• Oil for frying

Directions

1. Cut lean pork into 1″-thick strips.
2. Pour corn starch into bowl and add a cup of cold water slowly.
3. Mix corn starch and water until it looks like strings when fork is lifted from the bowl.
4. Add pork into cornstarch and water mix and make sure all the meat is well-coated.
5. Add oil to a pot to prepare to deep fry the pork strips on the stove. Wait until the oil is hot enough by testing with a bit of cornstarch mix into the oil to see if it bubbles.
6. Mix the pork in the cornstarch before putting strips into the pot. Don’t add too many strips at once in the oil so they can move around a little.
7. Move the pork strips around gently so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
8. Feel the firmness of the strips and look for a golden color to know when it’s done. Make sure to keep an eye on the heat so the strips do not burn.
9. Remove from the strips with a strainer and place on a paper towel and a plate or strainer to absorb some of the oil.
10. Fry the strips again to get them very crispy. Look for a golden brown color to know when you should remove the strips from the pot. Strain the strips and let them cool.
11. Add tomato, vinegar, and sugar OR ketchup to a pan or wok on the stovetop and heat it up. The sauce will become sticky.
12. Add white sesame seeds to the tomato mixture and stir in.
13. Add the fried pork strips to the tomato mixture and mix well on a slightly higher heat.
14. Take out of the pan and enjoy!