Sweet & Sour Pork

• 300g pork shoulder steaks

• 200g corn flour / corn starch

• ½ onion

• ½ red / green pepper

• Chunks of pineapple (optional)

The Marinade

• ½ thumbsized piece ginger, finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 1 egg

The Sauce

• 150g really ripe red plums (can swap out with plum sauce)

• 2 tsp tomato puree

• 2 large tomatoes

• 1 ½ tbsp sugar

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 3-4 rolls haw flakes

• Juice ½ lemon

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• Dash dark soy sauce

PREPARATION

First, halve and de-seed your plums. Blitz them up to get a juicy plum juice, then sieve out any lumps so it’s smooth. Blitz the tomatoes next and add their juice to the plum juice in a pan. Heat gently over medium heat.

Once it’s boiling, stir in the haw flakes and sugar. Give it a taste, you want a nice balance of sweet and sour. Then add the light soy sauce, rice vinegar, and just a dash of dark soy sauce.

Set up your wok clock on a plate: onions at 12 o’clock, peppers at 3, and pineapple at 6.

Cut your pork into chunks, toss them in the marinade, and mix well. Then add the cornflour and give it another good mix.

COOKING

Heat your wok oil to 180°C, test it with a chopstick; if it bubbles, you’re good to go! Carefully lower the pork in using a spider, spread it out and fry for 2–3 minutes. Remove the pork, heat the oil back to 180°C, then fry the pork again for 1 minute to get it beautifully crispy.

Give your wok a quick wash and heat it up on medium. Add a splash of oil and toss in the onions until they’re just starting to char. Add the peppers next to blister them nicely. Then add a little more oil and your pineapple. Bring those onions over the pineapple so they don’t burn, and flick everything through until the pineapple has a bit of colour.

Pour in a couple of ladles of your sauce and bring it to a lively boil. Toss in the pork and flick it all together until every chunk is coated in that glorious sauce.