All Hail the real-deal sweet & sour pork!!

[Doc4]

From time to time, much to my chagrin, when eating at "chinese" restaurants in North America, I have had the misfortune to try the "sweet & sour pork". Or maybe it was chicken or whatever, but always it's covered in that disgusting bright red toxic goo that some factory in New Jersey calls "sauce".

Yuck!!

Last month, I was in Malaysia for a week or so, and had the opportunity to eat dinner one night at a streetside Chinese cafe ... nothing fancy, the kind of place where the cook good decent food and you go to eat for cheap, not the fancy restaurant that makes it into the guide book. Well, for whatever reason, I ordered the s&s pork.

what a revalation!!

The pork and vegetables were fine, but the sauce was out of this world! There was sweetness, there was sourness, the sauce was tangy and almost "spicy" just with the balancing of those opposing forces.

Yes!!

 

[ouch]

It's a lost art. I recall a restaurant in Brooklyn (Mah Jong, long closed) that had a great S&S sauce that was-- get this-- clear.

The ingredient usually used to render it that bright red is called tomato shade- essentially red food coloring.

Sweet and sour is a fantastic combination of flavors, if made with a gentle touch.

 

[craig87c]

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the bright red goo because it was my gateway drug into Chinese takeout- which lead to me eating REAL Asian food.

 

[Meister]

"American" Sweet-n-Sour sauce that I use with good success.

Ratio:

1C Ketchup- Red goo color
1C Sugar
1/2C Vinegar
Pineapple chunks(juice and all), Green pepper chunks
Cornstarch added last to thicken


Throw everything in a pot and simmer. Pour over honey battered chicken and rice.

 

[_JP_]

I am in search of a local place that offers sweet and sour that isn't the Americanized candy sauce that we always get. When I find it, I'm gonna bribe the cook for the recipe.

 

[ouch]

Make sure you add some fresh ginger and a bit of sesame oil.

 

[Topgumby]

Make sure you add some fresh ginger and a bit of sesame oil.

Alton Brown's S&S pork is pretty good, but it's better with fresh ginger added to the sauce.

 

[Jim]

There is almost no dish with a greater potential for sublimity or catastrophe.

 

[Topgumby]

There is almost no dish soap with a greater potential for sublimity or catastrophe.

Can we put this in the soap forum about MWF?

 

[mmadha]

I remember seeing a "No Reservations" episode where Anthony Bourdain explained the rich culinary history of Malaysia where the perfect blend of East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian cuisine collide.

 

[mouscacha]

I remember eating that red stuff when I was a kid. The old Patti's Chinese Kitchen had the reddest sauce I've ever seen. However, eating that shrimp ball (pork and shrimp) with the red goo all over was so ono! Too bad they're gone. I'm just not a fan of panda. That Americanized chinese fast food really bugs me.

 

[DFrancis]

I can still remember the first time I had real sweet & sour pork, it's so much better than the toxic food court fare.

 

[djmike523]

Love the S&S P!