Name: Sweet and Sour Pork
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 portions
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 500g pork fillet; 1 tablespoon white wine; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; For the batter:; 5 tablespoons cornflour; 1/2 teaspoon baking power; 2 eggs; sunflower oil for frying; For the sauce:; 200ml water or stock; 2 tablespoons light soy sauce; 2 tablespoons apple vinegar; 4 tablespoons tomato ketchup; 2 tablespoons caster sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 green pepper; 2 thick slices pineapple; 2 medium carrots; salt and pepper; 2 tablespoons cornflour in 50ml water or stock

saturday night chinese sweet and sour pork 5

Sweet and Sour Pork, Saturday night chinese

There is nothing I love more than a Chinese on a Saturday night.

A couple of weeks ago I met with Bing Pan who has been on the island for 9 years. He and his wife Siqi Zang come from a suburb of Beijing known as Luo Yang. He loves the Maltese way of life and they have settled down in St Pauls Bay. They return to see their family in China every couple of years however they travel extensively for short breaks to locations around Europe and take every opportunity to explore other cultures and cuisines that are a short distance away.

And Bing brought with him all the skills that he acquired not only from culinary school but from old recipes and tips that were passed on to him by his parents who are both professional chefs too.

Bing Pan, Chef at La Branda Premium Resort, Mellieha, Malta

Bing with his wife, family and parents [centre] in Luo Yang near Peking

During our first session together we prepared what I think is probably the most popular chinese dish, no matter which country you may be living in.

Bing uses local Maltese pork. He loves the taste and texture and combines this with the freshest of ingredients. He believes that fresh ingredients contribute to success of this dish. His kitchen is MSG free.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Category: Pork

Cuisine: Chinese

Yield: 4 portions

Sweet and Sour Pork

Saturday Night Chinese: Bing's recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients

500g pork fillet
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

For the batter:

5 tablespoons cornflour
1/2 teaspoon baking power
2 eggs
sunflower oil for frying

For the sauce:

200ml water or stock
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple vinegar
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 green pepper
2 thick slices pineapple
2 medium carrots
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons cornflour in 50ml water or stock

Instructions

Place the soy sauce, white wine and sesame oil in a large bowl.
Add the salt.
Cut the pork into bite size pieces and marinate in the soy sauce mix.
Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Mix the eggs with the baking powder and the cornflour.
Season with salt and pepper.
If the mixture is too stiff add a couple of tablespoons of water.
Fill a wok with sunflower oil. You will need quite a lot as the pork pieces need to be deep fried. Heat the oil on moderate temperature.
Place the marinated pork pieces in the cornflour batter a little at a time.
Shake the batter off the pork pieces and gently lower them into the hot oil.
When they are golden brown remove from the oil and place on kitchen towel to remove excessive oil.

To make the sauce

Chop up the pineapple, carrots and green peppers into bite size pieces.

Place the stock, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil, apple vinegar and ketchup into a wok and bring to boil Add the peppers, carrots and pineapple pieces.
Stir on gentle heat.
Mix the cornflour with the rest of the stock and as soon as the sauce starts to bubble add the cornflour mixture little by little, stirring at the same time to thicken the sauce. Keep stirring until it thickens.