Sweet and sour pork

Nagi Maehashi’s sweet and sour pork combines crisp coated pork with pineapple and red and green peppers in a tangy sauce. Ketchup gives the sauce its reddish colour, while vinegar balances its sweetness.

Cubed pork scotch or shoulder marinates with grated onion, garlic and ginger, baking soda, cornstarch and soy sauce. It then receives a cornstarch coating mixed into the marinade, followed by a separate dry dredge.

The pork fries twice, draining on a rack between batches. A second, hotter fry deepens the golden crust before the pieces are held briefly while the vegetables and sauce are finished.

Garlic, ginger and onion cook in a separate skillet before the peppers are added. Pineapple pieces and a sauce of sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy and oyster sauces, cornstarch and water simmer until thickened.

The pork is tossed quickly through the sauce and served immediately, as its crust gradually softens once coated. Maehashi suggests plain or fried rice alongside; her oven method is a separate alternative to this selected double-fried preparation.