Sweet & Sour Pork (Guo Bao Rou)

Today I bring you Guo Bao Rou. It’s a super popular Dong Bei style sweet and sour pork. If you wonder where Dong Bei is, it’s located in the North Eastern of China. Let’s take a look how to cook this at home!

Ingredients:
1 pound of pork loin
1 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons of oil
1/4 cup of rice vinegar
1/4 cup of sugar
A pinch of salt
A dash of soy sauce
1 cup of oil
2 tablespoons of julienned carrots
2 tablespoons of julienned ginger
2 tablespoons of julienned scallions
3 cloves of sliced garlic
A small handful of cilantro

Marinade:
A tablespoon of cooking wine
A pinch of salt
A pinch of white pepper

I have here 1 pound of pork loin. Let’s tenderize each piece of pork with the side of a knife. You can also use a tenderizer.

Marinade the pork with a tablespoon of cooking wine, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Marinade for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, let’s cut up some vegetables. We’ll need 2 tablespoons of julienned ginger, 2 tablespoons of julienned carrots, 3 cloves of sliced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of julienned scallions, the white and the green parts.

To make the sauce, add 1/4 cup of rice vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a dash of soy sauce. Mix well.

In a large bowl, add 1 cup of cornstarch and about 1/4 cup of water. Or until it has become a smooth texture like this. Then add another 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix again. Add the pork slices.

In a wok, heat up 1-inch-deep oil or about 1 cup until hot. Deep fry until they are set. They them out and put aside.

Heat up oil again until even hotter. Deep fry the pork one more time for the extra crispy texture. Take them out drain the oil on a paper towel.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. Introduce, ginger, garlic, carrots, and scallions (the white). Also, pour the sauce until it thickens. Put in the pork slices. You can hear how crispy they are! Stir until coated. Lastly add in a little more of carrots, the green part of the scallions and cilantro. Serve!