FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SWEET AND SOUR PORK HONG KONG STYLE

28 Dec 2014

SWEET AND SOUR PORK HONG KONG STYLE

My best ever fresh sweet sumptuous classic take out dish that is so easy to make, super fast from wok to table in under 15 minutes and full of fresh clean flavours, you will never order this from a takeaway again! Why it can not be this good from fast food take outs is a mystery to me, juicy pork belly encased in a light crispy thin batter then tossed in a gorgeous fresh pineapple and orange sweet glaze, this is sumptuously gorgeous.

Ingredients

(Serves 4-6)

1kg of belly pork, skin removed

2 eggs beaten

2 tbsp cornflour

200ml water

1 pineapple chunked

1 orange zest and juiced

1 bottle of tomato ketchup

100ml pineapple juice

8 tbsp sugar

2 ltr nut oil for frying

This is great fast food! First put the oil in a wok and warm up to 190 degrees, while this is coming up to heat make the sweet and sour glaze, place the pineapple juice, orange juice and zest along with the tomato ketchup and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil and reduce to a pulpy sauce, taste and adjust the flavour if needed with sugar and pineapple juice, keep this gorgeous sauce on a low heat ticking over ready for the next stage.

Next make the lovely thin crispy batter by beating the eggs and cornflour together to make a smooth paste, slowly start adding the water until you have the consistency of thick double cream.

Cut the belly pork into small squares approx one inch square, when your oil is up to temperature dip the pork belly in the batter and gently place into your hot oil, these will take approx 4 minutes to cook, remove from the wok and drain on kitchen paper, once all your belly pork is cooked, add to your hot sweet and sour sauce gently tossing to coat and serve immediately and enjoy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.