Ingredients
- 200g pork loin or lean shoulder
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder (optional)
To cook
- 1 onion
- 1 green pepper
- 1 mild red chilli
- 1 egg
- 60g cornflour, plus extra to coat Vegetable oil, to fry
- 100g pineapple chunks
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp apricot jam – the lower in sugar, the better
- 1 tbsp cranberry sauce, ditto
- 1 good squeeze lemon or lime juice
- 25-40g soft light brown sugar
- 2.5 tbsp Chinese red vinegar (ideally), or rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornflour
Serve with egg fried rice and probably something fresh and green
Preparation
- Cut the pork into strips about 1cm wide. Put in a bowl, toss with the garlic, soy, rice wine salt and five spice, and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by stirring together the preserves and adding the citrus and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar, soy and 90ml water. Season to taste, adding more sugar, if you like.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the cornflour and a teaspoon of cold water.
- Cut the onion and pepper into chunky diamonds, separating the onion layers as you go.
- Slice the chilli into rings.
- Beat the egg in a bowl until smooth, then stir in 60g cornflour to make a smooth batter, and season.
- Tip an extra tablespoon of cornflour into the pork and toss to coat. Coat a plate with more cornflour.
- Pour vegetable oil into a large pan or wok to fill by a third and heat to 180C /350F. Once the oil is nearly at temperature, dunk the pork in the batter, then shake off any excess and roll it in the plate of cornflour to coat. Fry in the hot oil for three minutes, until golden, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Keep the oil warm.
- Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok until smoking, then stir-fry the onion, pepper and chilli until softened.
- Tip in the sauce mixture, bring up to a boil, then stir in the cornflour and water mixture, and cook until thickened. Add the pineapple and keep warm on a low heat.
- Heat the oil back up to 190C/375F and fry the pork for 30 seconds, until golden, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and transfer to the sauce.
- Turn up the heat, toss everything together, tip out on to a plate and serve immediately.
Notes
Pork is double fried!
