Sweet and Sour Pork (糖醋里脊)

4.93 from 26 votes

Published: 09/18/2019Updated: 10/25/2022Author:

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Introducing the authentic Chinese sweet and sour pork made with lightly battered pork, pan-fried until crispy, juicy, and tender, then tossed in a fragrant sticky sauce with a perfectly balanced sweet and sour taste. It’s super easy to make and tastes way better than takeout! {Gluten-free Adaptable}

Sweet and sour pork in a pan

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you might have heard me discuss the beloved American Chinese food that you won’t find in China. Dishes such as orange chicken, sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and chop suey. You might think that sweet and sour pork is another dish that was invented in the US. But in fact, it’s a real dish that exists in China. Not only does it exist, but it’s very popular and you will see it in many restaurants.

The sweet and sour pork in China is quite different from the American version, though. The takeout style is usually heavily battered, deep fried, and swamped in a pool of very sugary sauce.

On the other hand, in the Chinese version the pork is cut into thin strips, lightly coated with a batter and fried until crispy. It’s stir-fried with aromatics and coated with a thin layer of sauce that has a fruity, pungent, vinegary aroma but is sweet and fragrant in flavor.

Homemade sweet and sour pork

Why this recipe

1. Crispy coating without deep-frying

This recipe uses my default pan-frying formula, so you only need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil to pan-fry the pork and yield a very crispy and juicy result. No deep-frying required! The coating holds up pretty well. You can even stick your pan into the oven and set it at a keep-warm temperature if you’re not serving the dish immediately. The pork will stay crispy.

2. Perfectly balanced sauce

Even though I’ve cooked many sweet and sour dishes in the past, we tested the recipe many times to get the perfectly balanced sauce.

The northern Chinese sweet and sour pork has a very pungent vinegary aroma when you pick up a piece of pork. But the dish doesn’t taste too sour or tangy when you eat it.

We tested the dish with rice vinegar, Chinkiang vinegar, and apple cider vinegar, all of them with and without ketchup. In the end, the combination of apple cider vinegar and ketchup was the winner. It produces a sauce that is fruity, sour enough without being too pungent, and with the right amount of sweetness.

3. Easy workflow

You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make this dish. You only need to:

Pan fry the pork
Saute the aromatics
Thicken the sauce and coat the pork with it.

That’s it! I guarantee the dish will taste better than the takeout version.

Sweet and sour pork cooking step-by-step

Cooking notes

1. What cut of pork to use

Pork loin and tenderloin are perfect for making sweet and sour pork. They are lean and tender, which means they’ll generate juicy results. I’ve tried using pork chops because they’re cheaper. But I found that the meat comes out tougher and drier if you use chops.

2. How to cut pork

Even though you can cut the pork into chunks (like with Chinese take-out), I prefer the matchstick shape. This cut increases the surface area of the pork, so it will have a larger crispy surface and be coated with more sauce.

It’s important to cut the pork against the grain so the pork will have a tender mouthfeel after cooking. I took a picture to show you how to cut a piece of pork loin into strips.

Slice the pork loin crosswise into 1/2” (1 cm) round pieces.
Then cut the round piece into strips.

How to cut pork for stir fry

3. How to prep better

To prep faster, use less kitchen counter space, make cooking easier, and reduce cleanup, the best way is to group your ingredients according to the recipe. For example, since you will add the garlic and the onion to the pan in the same step, it doesn’t make sense to use two prep bowls for the ingredients.

Before cooking the sweet and sour pork, your kitchen counter should have only the following:

A bowl with chopped green onion and garlic. Sometimes I leave them on the cutting board so save another bowl!
The mixed sauce.
The marinated pork, is coated with cornstarch.
Oil for cooking

That’s it! This list helps you organize your cooking, so you won’t miss any ingredients during the stir-frying process.

Ingredients for sweet and sour pork

4. How to pan-fry the pork

Pan-frying pork is so much easier than deep-frying.

You need to heat up enough oil so that it covers the bottom of your pan. The more oil you use, the crispier the pork will turn out. The minimum oil amount for this recipe is 1/3 cup. But you can increase the oil to 1/2 cup or a bit more to get a crisper result.

Once the oil gets hot, add all the pork at once. Then quickly use a pair of tongs (or chopsticks if you’re handy) to separate the pork strips. Depending on your pan and your stove, it takes different amounts of time to cook the pork. Let the pork cook without moving, until the bottom turns golden. Then flip to the other side using a spatula and cook until golden. That’s it!

Once done, transfer the pork to a plate to cool for 1 to 2 minutes. This cooling process will harden the coating and keep the pork crispy once you add the sauce.

Afterthoughts

Chinese cooking might look intimidating sometimes. But once you’ve tried my recipe, you’ll find it very approachable. You just need to get organized and prepare the ingredients before the cooking starts.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Sweet and sour pork close-up

More delicious Chinese stir fry recipes

If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

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