Tag Archives: sour

Pork, Uncategorized

Sweet and Sour Pork Chop

Leave a comment

1, Season pork chop with salt and black pepper.

2, Dust pork chop with potato starch. A thin starch layer is enough.

3, Heat a pan, add in oil. Fry pork chop till both sides turn golden brown. And put them aside.

4, Use the same pan, add in a bit extra oil. Fry chopped garlic till aromatic.

5, Add in sweet and sour sauce, I used Lee Kum Kee sweet and sour sauce and 1/4 cup water. Stir evenly.

6, Put pork chop back in the pan. Simmer with low heat for 5 mins. Flip once or two times while cooking.

And ready to serve.

Advertisement
Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork

Leave a comment

This dish is based on fried pork (xiao su rou).

Ingredients:

lean pork 250g

starch 80g

eggs 2

salt 1/2 tsp

five spice powder  1/2 tsp

tomato sauce 4 tbsp

sugar 3 tbsp

vinegar 2 tbsp

water 2 tbsp

starch 1 tsp

 

  1. Cut pork into slices or strips. About 3-5 mm.
  2. In a bowl, add in starch (sweet potato starch would be the best choice, but I tried with corn starch and turned out not bad.) and beat in eggs. whisk till fully combined.
  3. Add in salt and spice powder. Stir well.
  4. Add pork slices into the batter. Stir to let them be fully covered with batter.
  5. Deep fry in oil till golden brown.
  6. To make them crispier, heat the oil and fry again. This step is optional.
  7. To make sauce: Heat a pan. Add in 1 tbsp oil. Then add in 4 tbsp tomato sauce. Stir fry to make tomato sauce fully mixed with oil. and color will be brighter. Add in 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Simmer with low heat. Dissolve 1 tsp starch in a little water and add into the sauce.
  8. Add fried pork into the sauce. Quickly mix well.

https://flic.kr/p/2iKQfXz

 

 

My husband is a big fan of this dish.

 

Pork, Ribs, Uncategorized

Sweet & Sour Ribs （糖醋排骨）

1 Comment
  1. Wash ribs in water. Put all the ribs in a deep pot. Add in enough water. Bring it to boil for 3-5 mins. Take out all the ribs and rinse under water.
  2. Heat a pan with a little oil. Stir fry drained ribs till they turn a bit brownish.
  3. Add in ginger slices and green onion. Stir fry till aromatic.
  4. Drizzle in 1 tbsp cooking wine. Stir fry till ribs dry again.
  5. Prepare sauce: 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp vinegar, 3 Tbsp rock sugar (you can reduce or add more sugar according to your taste). Pour sauce into the pan.
  6. Stir fry to let the ribs be coated with sauce.
  7. Pour in enough hot water can cover all the ingredients. Turn to low heat and simmer for 30-40 mins.
  8. Lid off. Turn to high heat and reduce the sauce.
  9. When sauce is about to dry, spread in white sesame. Quickly stir fry evenly.
  10. Garnish with chopped spring onion.

https://flic.kr/p/2gEfmaB

I know for sure that my husband will love it.

https://flic.kr/p/2gEeDuc

I prepared his bento with this delicious ribs. And the sauce made rice very tasty too.

My husband loved them so so much!

Prawn

Sweet & Sour Prawn

Leave a comment
  1. Clean prawns by removing all the intestines and rinsing under water. Place all the prawns in a big bowl. Marinate with salt, pepper and cooking wine for a little while.
  2. Coat prawns with a thin layer of potato starch.
  3. Deep fry prawns till golden and crispy.
  4. In a small bowl, add in 2 tsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp tomato sauce, 1 tsp vinegar, 2 tsp honey. Mix them well.
  5. Heat a pan. Pour the sauce in and reduce a bit.
  6. Add prawns into the sauce. Stir fry evenly to let the prawns be coated with sauce.

Garnish with spring onion.

https://flic.kr/p/24S3Vcc

Fish

Sweet & Sour Fish (糖醋鱼)

Leave a comment

Finally, I got the chance to try this sweet & sour fish (糖醋鱼，tang cu yu). Before everything, I want to give you a little warning here: this dish requires too too much oil to fry the fish. That’s also why I didn’t dare to try it.

Yesterday, my husband and I went to shopping for groceries. I was too busy recently. Some of my blogs were done maybe days ago, or even months ago. I wrote them when I got time and was not feeling lazy. Then when I was busy and had no time for blogging, I would just publish my draft done before.

But I did cook this dish today. Yesterday my husband chose sea bass at the supermarket. I’ve done steamed fish, braised fish, roasted fish, fried fish before. I also cooked sweet & sour fish fillet before. But I never did this whole sweet & sour fish. It’s a very popular fish in China. But it’s not an easy dish to make at home, since it requires cutting skills and too too much oil. So most people order it at the restaurant.  My husband had this dish when he was in Dalian, He loved it. My brother is also a big fan. I was planning to learn this dish and cook for my brother when I go back home.

  1. Prepare a sea bass, you can also choose carp. My fish was cleaned at the supermarket. So I just need to wash it again. Then  use a sharp knife to cut about 4 cm below the gill. Make several more cut every 4 cm. When cut the fish, first cut it vertical to the bone, then horizontal to make a crescent moon shape. Do the same to the other side.
  2. Marinate fish with 2 tbsp cooking wine, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper for 10 mins maybe.
  3.  Dust fish with potato starch and shake off the excessive.
  4. Prepare batter: 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 3/4 cup water. Mix well. You can test batter by scooping some batter up. If it can flow like tiny stream then it’s good. Add more flour if too thin. Add more water if it’s too thick.
  5. Heat oil. To save oil, you can just add in enough oil that can cover half the fish. Dip fish in the batter. Make sure whole fish is coated with batter completely, especially the cut part.
  6. When oil is hot, grab fish by head and tail with 1 hand.  Fry the fish for a little while to let the fish get firm. Then drop whole fish gently into the pot. Use a ladle to scoop and pour hot oil over the fish. Flip fish if one side turns golden brown. Fry for about 5 mins or till whole fish turns golden color. That’s how to make fish crispy.

https://flic.kr/p/2fH4neM

This is how my fish looks after frying. Fin is really crispy.

7. To make sauce: Heat a pan. Add in 1 tbsp oil. Then add in 4 tbsp tomato sauce. Stir fry to make tomato sauce fully mixed with oil. and color will be brighter. Add in 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Simmer with low heat. Dissolve 1 tsp starch in a little water and add into the sauce. Reduce sauce to condensed.

8. Pour sauce over the fried fish.

https://flic.kr/p/2fH4n7c

When I put the fried fish into a bigger plate, I accidentally broke its tail. Poor fish 😦

I have to let it lie down in the plate. I also garnish fish with green peas.

My husband gave me thumps up. The fish is really crispy outside, but tender and juicy inside.

https://flic.kr/p/2fH4n7H

Yum!

tofu

Sweet & Sour Tofu

1 Comment
  1. Prepare a pack of firm tofu, around 200 g. cut it into cubes. Put them in a bowl. Season with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 3 tbsp starch. Gently toss a bit to let tofu roll in starch.
  2. Heat a pan, add in 1 tbsp oil. Fry tofu till golden brown. Then set aside for later use.
  3. In a small bowl, add in 2 tsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp tomato sauce, 1 tsp vinegar, 2 tsp honey. Mix them well.
  4. Heat pan again. Add in 1 tsp oil, saute chopped garlic and ginger till aromatic. Add in vegetables (I used thawed mixed veg including broccoli, cauliflower and carrot). Stir fry for 2 mins.
  5. Add tofu and sauce in. Stir fry evenly and reduce sauce.

https://flic.kr/p/2fjJrPP

https://flic.kr/p/2fjJrQF

Serve with hot rice.

Fish

Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet

Leave a comment

You can choose whatever fish you want.

1. Cut fish fillet into slices. Season with a little salt and black pepper.

2. Prepare the batter: 2 tablespoon starch, 2 tablespoon flour and 1/4 cup water. If you think your batter is too thick, you can add more water. Too thin, add more flour.

3. Dip fish slice into the batter and fry in a pan till both sides turn golden brown.

4. Set fish aside. Heat a pan, add in a little oil. Stir fry vegetables. I chose green and red bell pepper, and onion. Stir fry for 2 mins. Then set them a side.

5. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoon tomato sauce, 1/2 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup water.

6. Pour sauce into the pan. Reduce a bit. Add in fish and vegetables. Stir fry till the sauce is very condensed.

tomato, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Sweet & Sour Fried Eggplant Recipe

1 Comment
  1. Cut eggplant into slices. Soak them in water, also sprinkle in some salt.
  2. Wash several cherry tomatoes. Cut cross at the bottom. Soak them in hot water for a while. Peel them and set aside for later use.
  3. Squeeze the water out of eggplant. Place them in a big bowl. Add in 2-3 tablespoon corn starch.  Shake a little to let eggplant be coated with starch.
  4. Fry eggplant till the starch layer becomes crispy. Set eggplant aside.
  5. Leave a little oil in the pan. Saute chopped garlic till aromatic.
  6. Add in cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 table spoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1 tablespoon water. Simmer a bit to reduce sauce.
  7. Add eggplant in. Stir to let eggplant coated with sauce.
  8. Add in green chili. Stir fry for another minute and ready to serve.

https://flic.kr/p/2c554A5

Fish, Uncategorized

Sweet & Sour Cuttlefish Recipe

1 Comment

Every time when my husband and I went to shopping for grocery, we would stay at the seafood are for a little while discussing what kind of fish we need to buy. Most time, we bought salmon, which is easy to cook and hard to get it done in a terrible way. We seldom bought shell or cuttlefish. Only when I have a new recipe to try that will I buy those I rarely choose.

I think cuttlefish can be fried with crispy shell. If they got coated with sauce, it will be nice. That’s how I got the idea of making this dish.

1. Cut cuttlefish into medium pieces. I was planning to have cuttlefish rings, but the one I bought already got cut open. So I just cut it into strips.

2. Place cuttlefish into a bowl. Sprinkle a little salt and black pepper.

3. In another bowl, combine 50g flour, 50g corn flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper. If you want it to be spicy, you can also add in chili powder. Mix them well.

4. Dip cuttlefish into the flour and shake off the excessive.

5. Deep fry them till the shell becomes hard and golden. Cuttlefish tastes really good after frying. I can’t help having some of them and also feed my husband a little. He likes it. Really crispy and tasty.

6. Heat a pan. A little oil in. Sauté chopped ginger and garlic till aromatic.

7. Add in 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. When the sauce condensed, add in fried cuttlefish, green chili & spring onion shreds.

8. Quickly stir fry to let cuttlefish be coated with sauce. And ready to serve.

Crispy cuttlefish is coated with sweet and sour sauce. Very yummy.

https://flic.kr/p/2ctikFs

Vegetables

Sweet & Sour Eggplant

Leave a comment

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables. Yet, it’s hard to cook eggplant well without frying. This dish also needs frying which means a lot of oil is used.I have to admit that it’s not very healthy, but it’s very delicious.

1. Cut eggplant into cubes. Place them in a big bowl. Add in 2-3 tablespoon flour. Mix eggplant with flour to let them be coated with a little flour.

2. Deep fry eggplant till golden brown. Set aside on kitchen towel tissue to absorb oil.

3. Heat a pan. Add in 1 tsp oil. Sauté 2-3 cloves chopped garlic and 1 chopped red chili till aromatic.

4. Add in 1/2 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 2 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon light soy sauce. Stir well.

5. Put in all the fried eggplant. Stir fry to mix eggplant with sauce till sauce thickened.

Serve hot.

https://flic.kr/p/25xUBAZ