Sweet and Sour Pork – best ever!

The best ever Sweet and Sour Pork recipe is loaded with tricks the Chinese have been using for centuries: double dredge and double fry for extra crispy, cornflour instead of flour, economical pork used for juiciness, but tenderised with baking soda so you’d swear they’re pricey chops, and a sauce that’s not sickeningly sweet.

BONUS: oven baked Sweet and Sour Pork directions included!

Sweet and Sour Pork

There’s a lot of information in this Sweet & Sour Pork recipe, so I’m going to skip all the usual attempts at a charming story and just give you the high points!

1. Crispiest pork you’ll ever make – too many recipes make grand promises but fall short;

2. Double fry high temp – fast becoming the worst kept Asian secret, double frying is THE secret to crispy, less oily food;

3. Cornflour / cornstarch, not flour – for a crispier coating. Flour isn’t even crispy fresh out of the oil;

4. Double dredge – the first layer seals the juices inside, acts as a glue for the 2nd dredge and is a second layer of crispiness;

5. Tenderise cheap but flavourful pork using baking soda – a trick used by Chinese restaurants all around the world. It’s called velveting – here’s how to velvet chicken and beef; and

6. Really great sauce – newsflash: Sweet & Sour Sauce is made with more than just sugar, ketchup and vinegar!

Wait a sec – did I just convince you that you’ve gotta try this?! 😂

How to make Sweet and Sour Pork – OVERVIEW

1. Marinate pork to infuse with flavour and tenderise the meat (we’re using economical shoulder and scotch pork);

2. Double dredge in cornflour/cornstarch, not flour, for extra crispy;

3. Double fry for extra crispy – a trick Asians have been using for centuries; and

4. 10 second toss to coat pork in Sweet and Sour Sauce!

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Pork Marinade Ingredients

Here’s what you need for the pork and marinade:

• Pork – the best cut (in order of preference): pork scotch (aka pork neck, pork collar), pork shoulder, leg, tenderloin then loin. See below for more information on each cut;

• Baking soda (aka bi-carb) and cornflour/cornstarch – meat tenderising method widely used across Asia (notably in Chinese cooking) that is starting to be discovered by Western countries! Called velveting, it also works brilliantly with chicken and beef.

For thin strips used in stir fries (as per the velveting chicken and beef directions), I use more baking soda to meat weight, marinate barely (20 – 40 min), then rinse it off before cooking. This won’t work for Sweet & Sour Pork because it would over tenderise the outside before the inside is tenderised because the pieces are chunkier. In this recipe, we use less baking soda, marinate for longer and do not rinse off – this tenderises the pork more evenly;

• Garlic, ginger and onion – flavour, flavour, flavour! Grated to make them “juicy” so the flavour penetrates better; and

• Soy sauce – for seasoning and flavour.

The more economical the pork cut, the longer the marinade time to tenderise.

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Best pork for Sweet and Sour Pork

In order of preference:

1. Pork scotch roast or steaks – also known as pork neck, and called pork collar or pork collar butt in the US, this is a common pork cut in Australia sold in both roast form and steaks (pork scotch steaks or scotch fillet steaks). Highly versatile cut that can be slow cooked (such as this slow roasted brown sugar pork and Char Siu) or quick cooked like steak (use it for any of my pork chop recipes). Pork scotch is ribboned with fat which keeps each piece juicy and has a good pork flavour. This is the cut that we believe higher end Chinese restaurants use;

2. Pork shoulder – while typically known as a slow cooking cut to break down tough connective tissue (like for pulled pork and Momofuku Pork Bossam), the baking soda and cornflour in the marinade tenderises the pork so it’s tender even after a quick fry. Without the marinade, the pork is tough and chewy! Not quite as tender as scotch, but almost – it’s on par with the really good local Chinese restaurants;

3. Pork leg – with similar cooking qualities to pork shoulder, this is an excellent option for Sweet & Sour pork as well. The only reason I don’t use it for things like stir fries is because I get it on the bone and cook it whole;

4. Pork tenderloin – this is a very tender, lean cut of pork with a milder flavour. It can be used but be aware it is more prone to drying out from overcooking in pursuit of crispy pork. Marinating helps alleviate this problem but still a bit harder to get cook timing exactly right;

5. Pork loin – bringing up the rear because it is lean like tenderloin, but it is not quite as tender and is even harder/drier than tenderloin if you overcook.

Any generic “pork steaks” would fall under #4 or #5 assuming it’s intended for quick cooking.

Pork cuts not recommended: Pork belly (too fatty), spare ribs (unless deboned), pickled pork (just – no).

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Sweet and Sour Sauce

Here’s what goes in Sweet and Sour Sauce. It gets the red colour from ketchup – food colouring not required!!

• Ketchup – provides sweetness, flavour and some thickening;

• Cider vinegar – to balance out the sweet

• Sugar – just 1/3 of a cup, far less than most recipes and definitely less than restaurants. This is sweet enough, trust me!

• Worcestershire sauce, oyster and soy sauce – so it actually tastes like what you get at restaurants rather than just a ketchup sugar sauce! Oyster sauce can be substituted with vegetarian oyster sauce which nowadays is widely available in Australian grocery stores like Coles and Woolworths (Asian section and/or health food section, Ayam brand);

• Pineapple juice – from the can of pineapple pieces used in the stir fry, because why waste it? Using fresh pineapple? Just skip this and add extra water; and

• Cornflour/cornstarch – for thickening. Sweet and sour sauce is thicker than most stir fries so it clings to the pork pieces!

You’ll notice that my sauce is not quite the crazy red you get at restaurants. That’s because I choose not to use food colouring!

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Ingredients in the Stir Fry

And here’s what goes in the Sweet and Sour Pork Stir Fry. I know some people are big advocates of fresh pineapple. I never use fresh – because they’re in season in summer and I (typically) don’t deep fry in summer!

Newsflash: Even restaurant Sweet & Sour Pork doesn’t stay crispy!

I know we all aspire to it, but the fact is that the pork in Sweet and Sour Pork doesn’t stay crispy for long once coated in sauce – even at restaurants. The pork IS crispy without sauce, but once coated, it stays pretty crispy for around maybe 5 minutes, then after that you’re left with the coating the sauce clings to but it’s not as crispy anymore.

This is the case even with restaurants, unless they use a different type of batter (like the puffy batter for Honey Chicken which truly stays crispy for hours) or they use speciality ingredients like Xanthum gum.

Want to avoid deep frying? The BEST oven baked sweet & sour pork is in the recipe too!

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Double frying and double cornflour coating = crispiest pork

So now that’s out of the way, the steps below show how to make the crispiest pork for Sweet & Sour Pork:

1. Marinate to tenderise the pork. Overnight for tougher cuts (like scotch/collar and shoulder) and 3 hours for more tender pork (like tenderloin and loin). Unlike with chicken and beef, there is no need to rinse the baking soda off because we’re using less and marinating for longer;

2. Coat in cornflour/cornstarch – this is dredge #1, for extra crispy pork. Coat it, then leave for 5 minutes and the cornflour will become wet from the juices from the pork. It will be super sticky at this stage – which is why no egg is required for the coating to adhere;

3. Dip into cornflour – this is the coating for Sweet & Sour Pork. Be sure to shake off excess otherwise you’ll end up with white specks on your pork;

4. Fry #1 – Fry at 180°C/350°F for 3 minutes to cook the pork through and make it golden. It won’t be that crispy at this stage – this step is mainly to cook the pork through;

5. Drain on RACK – elevating the pork on a rack will help keep the pork crispy. It sweats on paper towels, making it softer;

6. Fry #2 Hotter Temp – A trick used by Asians for centuries (eg in Japanese Karaage!), this will make your pork stay crispy for longer once it’s tossed in the sauce. Just fry for 1 1/2 minutes until it is deep golden brown. Without double frying, the pork starts losing crispiness within 2 minutes once it hits the sauce. WITH double fry, the surface starts to soften after around 5 minutes but the rate at which it completely softens is far slower than with single fry.

Fast becoming the worst kept Asian secret – double fry is THE secret to ultra crispy less greasy fried food!

Here’s a comparison of how the pork looks after Fry #1 and Fry #2. Added bonus: the higher temp makes the pork less oily too.

Single Fry Option

However, all that said and done, a single fry (for slightly longer) is excellent too if you need an express version. I was doing single fry for most of my life until I discovered the double fry – and nobody ever complained!

The oil used in this recipe can be used another two times because the pork coating is neutral in flavour.

How to make Sweet and Sour Pork

We’re on the home stretch! Here’s how it comes together:

KEY TIP: Toss the pork QUICKLY in the sauce – aim for 10 seconds – to prolong its crispy life!

Serve with plain rice or Fried Rice if you want to go all out. And if you’re making the effort to make Sweet and Sour Pork at home, why wouldn’t you?? (Tip: Fried rice reheats 100% perfectly, so make it first then just reheat it).

For extra vegetables, add a side of Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (a restaurant favourite!), or for fresh options, try Smashed Cucumbers, this Asian Salad or Asian Slaw, or Chinese Lettuce with Creamy Sesame Sauce.

And lastly, because I know someone’s going to ask, and for all those times you’re desperate for a Sweet & Sour Pork fix but can’t face the oil….oven directions are included. 

Is it as good as deep fried? Of course not – and anyone who tells you otherwise is outright lying. I’ve tried it every which way I can, and I can’t replicate it exactly.

But you can get 85%  80% of the way there, and once it’s all mixed up with the sauce you won’t really notice anyway. But your hips will thank you for it! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Note: video typo! Marinating time shows 2 hours, but it should be 24 hours. 🙂

Life of Dozer

He takes his job as Chief Taste Tester of RecipeTin Eats very seriously. That look of concentration on his face would put any exam-sitting student to shame!

(PS Those chopsticks are Dozers’ – sometimes I just don’t feel like getting slobber on my fingers🤷🏻‍♀️)