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Sweet and Sour Pork
Recipe by Sarah Tiong
This modern sweet and sour pork takes its inspiration from South East Asian flavours featuring a spicy pineapple sambal with a side of pickled cucumber
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Glazed Pork
Pork and Peanut Crumb
Pineapple Sambal
Pickled Cucumber
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Steps
- Preheat a hibachi or grill plate. Preheat oven to 200C.
- For the Glazed Pork, trim excess fat from the corners of the pork jowls and set trimmings and jowl aside.
- Remove the skin from the pork belly, cutting as close to the skin as possible and reserve for later use. Remove the ribs, cutting as close to the bone as possible. Slice between the ribs to separate then set aside.
- Slice the remaining pork belly into 4 equal portions. Set aside.
- Place a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Place the pork belly pieces and pork jowl, fat side down, into the saucepan and fry undisturbed for 5-6 minutes. Once the pork is browned lightly, flip over and allow to brown for a further 5-6 minutes. Remove the pork and set aside.
- Add the pork ribs to the pan and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the shallots, garlic and galangal and fry until golden, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add the star anise and coriander seeds and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and tamarind puree and stir fry until the tomato mixture starts to catch on the sides of the pot, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the coriander roots, kaffir lime, soy sauce, sugar and water to the pan. Stir thoroughly, cover and bring to the boil. Once boiling, taste and adjust the sweetness, sourness and saltiness to your liking, using sugar, tamarind and soy sauce.
- Add the pork jowl and pork belly to the saucepan. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer the contents of the saucepan to the pressure cooker and cook for 35 minutes on high pressure. Release the pressure and allow pork to rest in the cooking liquid for 10 minutes.
- Take 1½ cups of the liquid from the pressure cooker and strain through a fine sieve into a medium frying pan. Place the pan on medium high heat and reduce the sauce by half. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Remove the pork jowl from pressure cooker and slice, with the grain, into 4 pieces.
- Glaze each of the pork jowl pieces with the reduced sauce and grill over the hibachi for 1-2 minutes on each side, until charred and caramelised. (If using a grill pan, brush with oil before adding pork.) Remove from the heat and set aside on a tray, loosely covered to keep warm.
- For the Pork and Peanut Crumb, salt both sides of the pork skin, then lay the skin on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place another sheet of baking paper over the top of the pork skin and then place another tray, the same size as the bottom tray, on top of the skin to sandwich the skin between the two lined trays. Place the trays into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until browned and crackled. Remove the skin and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In the meantime, toast the raw peanuts in a small, dry frypan on medium heat until deep brown. Toss the nuts every minute to ensure even browning. Season with salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the peanuts to a small food processor and process to a coarse crumb. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Break the pork crackling into pieces, place into food processor and process to a coarse crumb.
- Combine the pork crackling and peanuts and mix thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and set aside.
- For the Pineapple Sambal, place the long red chillies, birds eye chillies, shallot, garlic and ginger into a food processor and process to a coarse paste.
- Transfer to a saucepan and add the oil. Fry on medium heat until caramelised, approximately 6-7 minutes.
- Add the pineapple and stir fry for a further 4-5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the shrimp paste into a small frypan over medium heat until starting to smoke. Remove from the heat and crumble into the pineapple mixture. Stir fry the mixture for 1-2 minutes, stirring well to combine.
- Add the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to the saucepan. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly. The mixture should come together in a chunky, sticky sauce and the oil will separate from the mixture and be bright red. Set aside.
- For the Pickled Cucumber, place the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper into a medium bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring, without overheating, until salt and sugar have dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool back to room temperature.
- Using a mandolin, finely slice the cucumber into 1mm rounds. Place the cucumber slices into the pickling liquid and stir thoroughly to combine. Place the bowl of pickles in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
- Once chilled and pickled, drain and squeeze the cucumber slices and crushing the slices to soften them. Set the cucumber aside on a plate.
- To serve, place the glazed pork onto flat serving plates. Place 2 small piles of the cucumber pickle around the pork and top with borage flowers and young coriander leaves. Spoon some Pineapple Sambal into the centre of the plate and sprinkle the Pork and Peanut Crumb around one side of the sambal.
