Go lo yuk

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g pork fillet(s)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, light
• 1 tbsp rice wine Shao Xing, Chinese, alternatively dry sherry
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper, freshly ground
• ¼ tsp five-spice powder
• 1 cup(s) flour (approx. 200 g)
• ¾ cup(s) water, lukewarm
• 1 tbsp oil, peanut
• 1 egg white
• Oil for frying
• 2 tbsp soy sauce, light
• 2 tbsp rice wine Shao Xing, Chinese, alternatively dry sherry
• 6 tbsp tomato sauce
• 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp sugar
• ½ cup(s) water
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 onions
• 4 tbsp oil, peanut
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ginger root
• 1 cup(s) chestnuts (water chestnuts)
• 2 bell peppers (preferably red)
• 6 tbsp green peas
• 4 tbsp melon(s) – peel, candied (optional)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

crispy fried pork with sweet and sour sauce, Chinese

Cut the pork into cubes approximately 1 cm long. Mix with soy sauce, rice wine, salt, pepper, and five-spice powder. Let marinate briefly in the refrigerator. In the meantime, mix the flour with the lukewarm water to form a smooth, thick batter, stirring in the oil. Let the batter rest for about 30 minutes. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter. Heat the oil in a wok. Dip the marinated pork cubes into the batter and fry them one at a time until the batter is golden brown (Chinese rule: you can cook small batches in a large wok, but not the other way around!). Drain the meat on kitchen paper and set aside. [Everything up to this point can be prepared in advance and set aside for a few hours]. Prepare the sweet and sour sauce (see below). Shortly before serving, heat the oil in the wok again to high and fry the pre-fried meat cubes a second time in batches over high heat, briefly (i.e., for a few seconds). This makes the batter beautifully crispy. Drain on kitchen paper. When all the cubes are fried, place them on a plate, pour the hot sweet and sour sauce over them, and serve immediately. Serve with cooked rice! For the sweet and sour sauce, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water until the sugar is dissolved. Mix the cornstarch with a little water until smooth. Peel the onions and quarter them lengthwise, then halve each quarter crosswise. Separate the onion pieces (this will speed up the cooking time later). Cut the peppers into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil and sauté the finely chopped garlic, finely chopped ginger, and all the vegetables for about 2 minutes. Add the sauce mixture, bring to a boil, and then gently pour in the swollen cornstarch. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the melon strips, if desired. Pour over the fried meat cubes (see above). The white water chestnuts, red bell pepper pieces, green peas, and yellowish onion pieces, along with the brown meat cubes in the orange sauce, create a wonderful color combination, rounded out by the dark melon strips. And the taste buds are all stimulated, too.