Sweet and Sour Pork 탕수육 Tangsuyuk

So guys, I'm back today to continue my week of posts. Yesterday was a pretty simple dish that would have worked perfect for breakfast this morning. Today I'm going to continue with the Korean food theme and I'm going to teach you guys how to make tangsuyuk (탕수육) which is sweet and sour meat with vegetables.

It is very much the Korean variation of your sweet and sour pork from Chinese restaurants. This dish is more of a crowd-pleaser, consisting of a pile of battered, crispy fried pork or beef strips in a sweet, tart apple & vinegar based sauce.

The dish is also laced with pickled snippets of cucumber, carrot, and sometimes cubed pineapples that offer a variety of color as well as taste. It is usually eaten as an appetizer, ample enough for a quartet of diners to share. When eating, the meat is usually dipped in soy sauce mixed with vinegar and crushed or powder red pepper flakes which will add some spiciness to each bite.

Today I'm going to introduce the pork version of this dish.

Ingredients
12 oz pork
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ onion, sliced
¼ carrot, sliced
¼ cucumber, sliced
1 cup corn starch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Vegetable oil for deep-frying meat
Salt & pepper
Sauce
1½ cup water
½ tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
5 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt

Method
1. Mix 1 cup corn starch and 1 cup water, stir well, and let sit for 1-2 hours.
2. After the corn starch and water are separated, carefully drain water.
3. Heat oil in a large pot to fry. Don't fill more than a half way.
4. Cut pork into thin strips, add 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/16 teaspoon pepper and egg, mix well.
5. Put meat in a corn starch batter, mix well with hands.
6. Once you are done consistently coating the meat with batter, deep-fry it in oil until golden. *The key for crispy meat is to fry twice, so before serving it, fry once again.
7. Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil to a hot pan and sauté vegetables briefly for about 1-2 minutes.
8. Add sauce ingredients, stir to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil.
9. In a separate bowl, mix 2 tbsp of corn starch and 2 tbsp of water to make slush.
10. Then add the slush to the boiling sauce and stir until it gets thick.
Important thing is to put corn starch mixture to the boiling sauce. The slush may not mix well if you put in lukewarm sauce.
11. Continue boiling for 4-5 minutes.
12. Once the sauce is complete, pour it over onto the meat and serve hot.





And there you have it, a simple dish to serve with dinner tonight.

Remember that there will be another post tomorrow, so keep happy, healthy and safe until then.