Cantonese Sweet and Sour Something with peppers and pineapples

The Cantonese sweet and sour dish is one of the most popular Cantonese dishes,  there are many variations of this dish and they go by many names.  When we talk about Cantonese dishes we are usually referring to food from south china, like Hong Kong and Guangdong.   The reason I put the name as sweet and sour something is because you can substitute the meat for almost anything you like.  I will be using pork so this will be called sweet and sour pork or gu lou yok 咕噜肉. 

Marinade the pork for at least 1 hour so the pork has plenty of flavor.  After that you start preparing your ingredients.  Cut all the vegetables and set aside and make sure to wash and dry them.  Prepare the batter mix in a large mixing bowl.  Now you can heat up the oil for the deep frying.  

When the oil temperature is around 350F it is ready for deep frying.  Add the pork individually and make sure it does not stick together.  Remove the pork when it becomes golden color and put into a strainer.  After all the pork is finish frying you can now start making the sauce.  Start by frying the onions,  then add the peppers shortly after. Stir it all together for around 3 mins until it is partially cooked. 

Now it is time to add the Tomato soup.  Once you have added the soup, mix it all together along with other ingredients.  Taste the sauce and adjust to your own taste.  When you are satisfied with the sauce you can add the pineapples and Pork.  This last step must be done fast so the pork will remain crunchy. Serve right away after fully mixed together. 

Goes great with white rice or you can just eat as is. 

Cantonese Sweet Sour Pork with peppers and pineapples

Very colorful sweet and sour pork with peppers and pineapples is a favorite of many kids and goes great with rice.
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Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Marinade time 1 hr
Total Time 2 hrs 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese

Equipment

  • Wok
  • pot

Ingredients
  

Pork Marinade

  • 1.5 lbs pork loin
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tbsp cooking wine

Batter and Deep fry pork

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup corn starch
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 5 cup vegetable oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce

  • 3 Multi color Bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup pineapples
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 can Tomato soup
  • 1 tbsp soya sauce
  • 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp vinegar
  • 2 tbsp sugar or brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Cut all the pork in bite size chunks or strips, the chunks will taste more tender and moist while the strips will be more crunchy and cook faster.
  • Add the salt, pepper, wine, starch, and oil together with the pork. Mix everything up and marinade for at least 1 hour.
  • Cut Onions and all the peppers into same size pieces and set aside.
  • In a large bowl add all the ingredients for the batter mix.
  • Heat up the oil in a pot until it reach 350-375F so it will be ready for deep frying.
  • Take the marinaded pork and cover with the batter mix. Make sure the pork is nicely coated with the mixture.
  • Put the pork individually into the oil, make sure it don't stick together.
  • Have a strainer with another mixing bowl ready, once the pork becomes golden brown remove from oil and place into strainer.
  • Continue to fry all the pork and put into strainer. The strainer help remove any excess oil on the pork.
  • Once all the pork is done, you are ready to make the sauce.
  • Add oil and onions to wok and stir fry for about 30 seconds.
  • Next add the peppers and stir fry for about a minute.
  • Now add the tomato soup, worchestershire sauce, soya sauce, salt, sugar and vinegar to the wok. Stir fry until everything is mixed together.
  • Taste the sauce, if you like it more sweet then add more sugar. If you like it more sour then add vinegar.
  • Once the sauce is ready turn off the heat, add all the pork along with pineapples. Quickly mix well then serve on plate.

Notes

In this recipe I used pork, but you can substitute this for chicken, ribs or even fish.  Cook time may vary depending on size of the meat or if it has bone or not.  The oil left over from the frying maybe used for other recipes or even for frying rice or vegetables.  Also if you do not want to use the large amount of oil for deep frying, you can use a air fryer as a substitute. 
Keyword cantonese, peppers, pineapples, pork, quick and easy, sweet and sour, tomato sauce