Today, I am sharing David's sweet and sour pork recipe with you. David started making this when our children were very young, about 30 years ago. It is a family favorite that we love. We always serve it over white rice with plenty of Soy Sauce.
Only one time did David mess this recipe up. We were in living in Colorado Springs at the time where David went to Bible College. His English professor was also our Young Couples Sunday School teacher. We invited him to come over for dinner one Saturday evening. David got out all of the ingredients as he always does. I stay out of the kitchen when he cooks.
So David chopped up everything and made the batter that the meat is fried in. Then he started frying the meat in the batter. He always tastes as he goes and it is a good thing he did. For some unknown reason, he pulled out the baking soda instead of the corn starch so when he tasted the fried pork, it did not taste right. In fact, it was downright awful. He called me in the kitchen to taste it. Ughhh! Then we realized he had used baking soda. We had to throw it away. The professor arrived and we explained what happened. We had to order a pizza instead.
Every other time that David has made sweet and sour pork, it has been delicious. This recipe is versatile. Instead of pork, you can use pieces of beef or chicken to fry up.
We use a rice cooker to make the rice because it is so hard to cook rice without burning the pan for me. Growing up, my mother always cooked Minute Rice. In fact, until we got married, I had never even cooked regular rice, just Minute Rice. I have tried over the years but it is always either burned or not done. When rice cookers came out, David bought me one and we are in love with them!
You will need:
Several of the above mentioned ingredients are listed twice so I marked them as "Again" so you would know that you will need them in different parts of the preparation.
Trim off any fat from the meat. Cut the meat into 3/4 inch pieces. Heat the vegetable oil to 360° in a deep fryer if you have one. We did not have one for years so David would cook it in a very tall skillet so oil would not get all over the stove.
Beat the flour, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/2 cup of cold water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the farm fresh egg until smooth. You can use a mixer or a fork to get it good and mixed. Add the raw meat into the batter and stir the pieces until they are well coated.
Add the coated meat, one piece at a time, into the hot oil and fry for about five minutes, turning each piece a few times until the batter is golden brown. Drain on a plate that is lined with paper towels to absorb the excess grease. Taste and make sure you used cornstarch instead of baking soda. Keep the meat warm by placing it in the oven on a low setting.
Drain the pineapples but save the syrup because you will use it right now. Pour it into a measuring cup and add water to it until you have one cup. Combine this cup of syrup and water in a Dutch oven with brown sugar, vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, soy sauce, carrots, and garlic to boiling. Reduce heat. Cover the Dutch oven and simmer for about six minutes, until the carrots are tender but not mushy.
In a separate small bowl, mix two tablespoons of cornstarch and two tablespoons of cold water until smooth. Immediately pour this into the Dutch oven and stir constantly. Add meat, pineapple chunks, green onions, and peppers while continuing to stir. Let this boil for 60 seconds and you are done!
The colors on top of the white rice look beautiful and your family and guests will love looking at it and eating it. Next time, you may need to double the recipe.
Serve over rice either on a plate or in a large bowl. We like to serve it with sourdough bread or with egg rolls. The sourdough is homemade but the egg rolls are usually frozen and then baked. I do not have a recipe for egg rolls although I should find one!
If you would like, you can grow some of the vegetables used in this recipe right in your own garden. Find them here:
Vegetables always taste better when you grow them at home! Happy planting!
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