Chinese Gubajou in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make Chinese-style gubajou in sweet and sour sauce? Start by prepping the ingredients. Don't be surprised that my gubajou has no vegetables or canned pineapple — the name literally means "pork in starch," and everything else is just later riffs on the dish, mostly a Western spin on the Chinese original. Use corn starch only; potato starch won't work — it won't give you that crispy crust.

2. Step 2:

   

   For this dish, go with a lean cut of pork. I like tenderloin, but a boneless loin works too. Rinse the pork, pat it dry with paper towels, and cut it into thin slices. If you plan to add vegetables, cut the pork the same way you cut them (strips or cubes) — it'll be easier to eat and look nicer on the plate.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put 3 tablespoons of starch in a deep bowl, add the soy sauce and cold water, and stir. Add the pork slices to this marinade, stir again so every piece is coated, and let the pork marinate for 20 minutes. Stir the bowl now and then, since the starch settles to the bottom.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour vegetable oil into the pot you'll fry the pork in and set it on the stove to heat. How much oil you need depends a lot on how deep and wide your pot is. Go with a deep one, since the oil spatters a lot. Put the remaining starch in a bowl. Dredge each piece of pork in the starch and deep-fry on both sides until golden.

5. Step 5:

   

   Transfer the fried meat to a clean bowl. At this point it'll look pale and gray. To get that crispy crust, the pieces need a second fry in a clean skillet with a little vegetable oil, until the coating turns golden.

6. Step 6:

   

   Get all the sauce ingredients ready — the cooking goes very fast, so everything needs to be within reach. Any vegetable oil works, and you can use ketchup or another sauce in place of the tomato paste. Swap the vinegar essence for regular table vinegar in the right proportion, or use rice vinegar.

7. Step 7:

   

   How do you make the sauce? In a small container, stir the cold water together with the corn starch. Set it aside.

8. Step 8:

   

   Set a wok over medium heat. A regular skillet works, but the high sides of a wok keep splatter down, and its shape is better suited to quick stir-frying. In the hot wok, combine the sugar, salt, and vinegar essence. Once the mixture starts to melt, add the tomato paste and vegetable oil and stir. If the sugar crystallizes, don't worry — it'll dissolve again once you add the starch water.

9. Step 9:

   

   When the mixture comes to a boil, quickly re-stir the reserved starch water and pour it into the wok. Be sure to stir it first, because the starch will have settled to the bottom while you made the sauce. Let the sauce boil for another couple of minutes.

10. Step 10:

    

    Add the fried pork to the sweet and sour sauce and toss for a couple of minutes so the sauce coats it evenly. There shouldn't be any loose sauce left in the wok — it should cling to every piece. Turn the gubajou out onto a platter and serve. Enjoy!