Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple

This is my favourite dish to order when we have Chinese food. I love it so much that I had to formulate this recipe for those days when I don’t wanna order take out. I like sweet and tangy food so its easy for me to love this! The signature bright orange or bright red colour may be achieved by using annatto, egg powder yellow colouring or a combination of yellow and red food colouring. I have tried all three and they all work fine. If you use canned pineapple remember to reserve the juice for the sauce. As for the pork I’ve used boneless pork chops, tenderloin and pork butt. Just avoid TOUGH cuts of pork and you'll be fine. Oh and another reason you should make this...you'll know for sure that it's MSG free :)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb boneless pork cut into bite sized pieces

Salt and pepper as desired

½ - 1 tsp five spice powder

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 large egg

1/2 cup corn flour

¼ cup all-purpose flour

oil for deepfrying

Sweet and sour sauce ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, cut in 1 inch pieces

2 - 3 small bell peppers (red and green) cut into 1 inch pieces

½ teaspoon ginger finely grated

¼ cup pineapple, diced

¼ - 1/3 cup rice vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup brown sugar

1 cup pineapple juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons water

½ - 1 ½ teaspoon annatto powder*

METHOD

1. Season the pork with salt, pepper, Chinese five spice powder and rice vinegar. Stir in the beaten egg and marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat a deepfryer to 350 degrees F.

3. Heat the tablespoon of vegetable oil in a sauté pan and cook the peppers and onion till cooked but still crunchy. Set them aside in a bowl.

4. In the sauté pan, cook the ginger for 1 minute and add vinegar, ketchup, sugar, pineapple juice and annatto powder. Simmer over low heat. Dissolve the cornstarch in the 3 teaspoons of water and carefully stir this into the simmering sauce to help thicken it.

5. Continue to simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes then once it is bubbling and has reduced, add the pineapple and the sautéed vegetables. Once the sauce is cooked remove it from the heat.

6. Remove the pork from the refrigerator. Mix the cornflour with the allpurpose flour and add to the pork pieces , coating the pork evenly . Deepfry pork pieces about 10 - 15 minutes. Add them to the warm sauce and serve with plain rice.

YIELD: 4 servings

RECIPE NOTES

*Add a little at a time till you get your desired colour intensity