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A personal favourite of mine growing up was Sweet and Sour Pork that we’d order at Chinese restaurants.

WHAT IS CHINESE SWEET AND SOUR PORK?

It’s a very popular dish in Chinese restaurants across the world with the distinct pieces of crispy pork cooked down in a delicious sauce with the usual bell peppers, onions, and pineapples.

Growing up Filipino-Chinese, Sweet and Sour Pork was always one of those dishes present at the table whenever we’d have family gatherings or when celebrating a special occasion such as the Lunar New Year.

This dish was always a massive hit among us kids and I remember always sharing a large plate and enjoyed it with Yang Chow Fried Rice with my cousins at the children’s table.

HOW IS SWEET AND SOUR PORK COOKED?

The pieces of pork (vegan soy chunks, in this case) are coated in a generous amount of cornstarch before being fried to a golden brown crisp.

As for the soy chunks, I share a few alternatives below that you can use to instead of the soy chunks.

THE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

The sauce is a perfect balance of sweet and sour with a little tanginess from the vinegar and hints of fruitiness from the pineapple.

This was a staple growing up and it’s always a hit among kids at the children’s table during family gatherings. I grew up eating this with a side of yang chow fried rice or a steamed bowl of rice.

You can also make this gluten-free with a simple substitute: use tamari instead of soy sauce for the sauce!

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED FOR THIS VEGAN VERSION

SOY MEAT OR CHUNKS

Here’s the exact soy meat I used! PS. Link is not an affiliate link. I purchased these from Shopee and can be shipped in the Philippines.

For my US-based friends, here are similar meat substitutes that you can find on Amazon:

(these are affiliate links)

• Soy curls
• Soy chunks
• Vegan meat substitute

To rehydrate the soy chunks or soy meat:

Option 1

• You can soak them in boiling hot water and leave to rehydrate for 15 to 20 minutes or until they’re doubled in size.
• It also helps to cover the bowl so the steam from the heat is retained.

Option 2:

• Leave the chunks to soak overnight in room temperature water until doubled in size.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE SOY CHUNKS?

THESE ARE SOME GREAT PLANT-BASED SUBSTITUTES FOR SOY CHUNKS:

See below the 4 options I can recommend for this recipe.

• 1lb (454g) frozen then thawed extra firm tofu
  • Before you freeze your tofu, slice them into 1” (2.5 cm) cubes. NO need to squeeze out the liquid from your tofu.
  • Place the tofu on a flat surface or container and make sure they’re spaced apart so they do not stick.
  • Freeze at least overnight then thaw the next day. When thawed completely at room temperature, carefully squeeze out the liquid from each piece of tofu.

• 1lb (454g) Seitan
  • If using seitan, you can slice them into 1” pieces or just break them apart into pieces before marinating and coating the in the starch.

• 1lb (454g) Tempeh
  • Make sure your tempeh is fully thawed then slice them into 1” (2.5 cm) cubes. You can opt not to coat your tempeh in cornstarch and just pan-fry these directly.

• Cauliflower Florets
  • Another option would be to use cauliflower florets that you can batter and coat before frying to a crisp and mixing in with the sauce.
  • You can check out my Crispy Cauliflower Recipe here and use the cauliflower base recipe and cook it in the Sweet and Sour Sauce from this recipe. 

HOW TO PREPARE SOY CHUNKS

• Leave the soy chunks to soak to rehydrate.
• Before you marinate the soy chunks, squeeze out the water from each piece. I simple squeezed them with my hand.

Marinating the soy meat/chunks

• I marinated the pieces in soy sauce with some garlic. You can also use garlic powder instead of minced garlic.

THE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

This sauce is really what brings this dish to life both in terms of colour and flavour!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE

• 1/4 cup sugar, adjust according to desired sweetness
• 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice from the chunks (see notes)
• 5 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, optional for colour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• Dash of ground pepper

The full recipe is also in the card below!

COATING THE SOY PIECES FOR THE “PORK”

For the coating, I used corn starch but other starches such as potato or arrowroot.

Double coating these in the corn starch also really help achieve that crisp exterior after cooking.

FRYING THE “PORK”

• I fried the pieces in neutral oil. I made sure that the oil was very hot and bubbling to get them to crisp up nicely and not absorb the oil.

The pieces immediately sizzle and bubble in the high heat when you put them in the oil.

You’ll need to move the pieces around to cook the other side.

Fry the pieces until golden brown and crisp!

Drain the pieces from the oil and transfer on a strainer or cooling rack.

REUSING THE OIL

Since these were very neutral in flavour, I stored the oil to use for my other deep-fried recipes such as Crispy Taiwanese-Style Popcorn Mushrooms or a bunch of my Cauliflower Recipes and Tofu Recipes as well.

What to do?

You can strain out some of the starch pieces that are left in the oil and leave the oil too cool. I have this oil container with a strainer on top that I use to store my oil. I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times.

Can I pan-fry these instead of deep-frying?

Both options work for an acceptable Sweet & Sour “Pork” but they of course won’t be as crispy compared to a deep-fried version.

To pan-fry: use a non-stick pan.

• Heat enough neutral oil to evenly coat the surface of the pan. A thin layer will do.
• Add in the pieces when the oil is hot and then pan-fry on each side until crispy, around 4 to 5 minutes.
• Note: These won’t turn out as golden brown compared to the deep fried ones but still good enough.
• Remove them from the oil then set aside.

A rundown: the sauce and the stir-fry ingredients

Stir-fry Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into small squares
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into small squares
• 3/4 cup pineapple chunks in extra light syrup, around 115g

STIR-FRYING AND COOKING THE SAUCE

• First: Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and peppers in the same pan used for frying. I simply drained out the excess oil from frying.

• Second: Add in the pineapple

• Third: Add in the sauce and leave it to simmer.

• Fourth: Cook down the sauce until it thickens. Keep mixing to prevent it from sticking to the pan.

• Fifth: the sauce will slowly turn more translucent, and turn into a glaze-like consistency

• Sixth: taste the sauce and feel free to season it more if you’d like.

ADDING IN THE “PORK”

For this part, you can aim for 30 seconds or less! This for me is the key to enjoying sweet and sour “pork” that’s coating in the sauce but still has that crunchy bite to the pork pieces.

Afterwards, quickly coat the pork in the sauce, turn off the heat, and serve.

It’s also important to note that Sweet and Sour “Pork”, even at restaurants, don’t really stay crispy for long!

Trust me, I grew up eating this stuff. It’ll have that little crunch when you bite on it but nothing like the crunch of the “pork” from before you add them in the sauce.

SERVE THESE IMMEDIATELY AND ENJOY!

This Chinese Sweet and Sour “Pork” is of course perfect with some rice. Such a hearty and super satisfying meal, trust me!

You can also check out the video below to see how to make these!

MORE VEGAN CHINESE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE:

• Wontons in Chili Broth
• Scallion and Sesame Buns
• Nori-Wrapped Tofu in Spicy Sauce
• Maple Hoisin Tofu
• Orange Tofu
• Chinese-Style Bolognese
• Ginger and Scallion Noodles
• Chili Garlic Oil Noodles

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