Korean Sweet & Sour Stir fry! With Deep Fried Crispy Pork tossed in a Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce with Stir Fried Vegetables. It’s my version of Tangsuyuk or a Korean Sweet & Sour Pork recipe with a bit of heat. Although, you can also make a Korean Sweet & Sour Beef or a Korean Sweet & Sour Chicken. Using either beef or chicken and processed the same way.
The whole thing happens right there on the stove top, with switching effortlessly between deep-frying and stir-frying. Start the Steamed Rice, with a rice cooker, before anything else. After about 15 minutes, start deep-frying. This way, the Korean Sweet & Sour Stir Fry will be ready by the time your rice is done.
Korean Sweet & Sour Stir fry Ingredients
Pork, Crispy Breading (Cornstarch, Water, Egg, Flour, White Pepper, Sea Salt), Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce (Water, Sugar, Chinese Red Vinegar, Mirin, Gochujang, Potato Starch), Vegetables (Onion, Bell Peppers, Carrot, Pineapple Chunks, and Cucumber).
Protein
Slice pork into thin strips about the same size as fries across the grain weighing out about 1 lb (ca. 454 g) worth. This can be done with Beef (Korean Sweet & Sour Beef) or Chicken (Korean Sweet & Sour Chicken) as well.
Wet Batter
A Traditional Tangsuyuk batter is made with a starch. Either Cornstarch or Potato Starch, with cold water added and left to sit until the starch completely settles. Then the water is strained off and an Egg and other ingredients can be added to create the batter. How much water added really doesn’t matter, because the batter will be drained of all the water. We’re just looking for the starch and water to separate.
- Add 1 1/4 Cup of Starch to a bowl with 3 Cups of Water. Whisk well and leave on the counter for 2 hours, or until the water separates from the starch that has settled at the bottom. You can also do this the night before.
- Empty out the water and add 1 Egg (Some will add in oil or both) to mix through. Along with 1/2 Tbl of White Pepper — optional. Mix until it loosens up.
- Add the pork to the wet batter to mix. Then go straight to deep-frying.
However, there is another batter that I really much prefer for this dish. This is a superior batter that just holds up so much better than anything else. In particular when tossed in a sauce like this recipe. I’ve compared the traditional batter made with potato starch to this one, and this one was much better.
Cornstarch Wet Batter
Combine the ingredients and mix. Add 1 lb (ca. 454 g) Pork and mix. With Pork or Chicken, you can start deep-frying right away, or marinate for any length of time to tenderizes the meat. While it isn’t really noticeable with Pork or Chicken. With Beef, which is a tougher cut, you will want to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight. This gives the meat has a chance to tenderize.
Cornstarch Wet Batter ingredients
- 1 1/4 C Corn Starch
- 1 C Cold Water
- 3 Tbl Flour
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1/2 Tbl White Pepper
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce
This is an amazing and simple Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce. With a bit of heat coming from the Gochujang paste and comes together in minutes. Just combine the ingredients together in a bowl to whisk and set aside until needed. Before using, give it another stir to mix up the starch and gochujang.
Vegetables
The Vegetables used are Red, Orange or Yellow Bell Peppers, Onion, Carrot, and Cucumber with Pineapple Chunks. These are first stir-fried and then simmered in the sauce until tender to your liking. They should be tender but still crisp. Cucumbers are added in last, since they soften rather quickly.
Deep Frying Battered Meat
Set a pot large enough to hold the hot oil. Fitted with a fine sieve to strain out any solids from the fat, when pouring in the fat to return the wok to the burner for stir-frying. This setup allows you to go very quickly between deep-frying and stir frying and is the technique employed in Asian restaraunts just the same.
The battered meat will initially go in to fry for 5 minutes. Then when all the pieces are fried. They will all go back in for a final crisping once the Oil reaches 375F again. This double frying allows the oil to get hot enough to crisp up the batter more and expel any excess fat from the batter because of the higher temps.
Initially, the meat will go in when the oil is 375F and stay on max the whole time. But the temp will drop to 300F or just below. Then rise to just 350 F or a bit below by the time 5 minutes is up. The final crisping is done when the oil hits 375 F again. All the meat is placed back into the oil for a final crisping, just for a minute or so.
Wok Frying
- Fill the Wok halfway or a bit less with Oil and heat over max heat until it reaches 375F. Quickly add half of the Battered Pork one at a time and deep-fry 5 minutes. Use tongs to break up any pork that has stuck together. Repeat for the second batch, when the oil reaches 375F again.
- Once all the meat is fried up and set aside. Allow the oil to come back to temp to add all the meat back in for a final crisping, just a minute or so. Scoop out with a spider and strain the oil into the pot set on the back of the stove.
Stir Fry
Once the Pork is fried up crispy, we start on the Stir Fry.
- Return the Wok to the burner after straining out the hot oil through the sieve over a the pot on the back of the stove.
- Add a splash of water to the wok. Followed by your thinly sliced Carrots, to cook until the liquids has evaporated.
- Add in your Onions & Peppers with Pineapple chunks and continue to stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender to your liking. You can add more water to help soften them and cook until it evaporates.
- Stir the bowl of Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce before adding to the wok. Bring this to a boil until it thickens and reduce the heat to medium to cook until the vegetables are tender to your liking. Add your Cucumbers along with Crispy Fried Pork. Pineapple chunks can be added here too, if you want them more firm. Toss to coat well and serve right away.
Sauce on the Side
Some people like to keep the Crispy Meat separate and serve that on the plate. With the scooped out tender but still crisp vegetables on the side and a small bowl of the Sweet & Sour Sauce for dipping. Originally, the Crispy Meat is tossed in the sauce and served this way.
Steamed Rice
The Steamed Rice that accompanies the dish is simple enough, with equal parts Rice & Water. A splash of Sesame Oil can be added too. Or our Steamed Rice recipe with added MSG & White Pepper for flavor. Use a Short to Medium grain rice.
The Rice can just be plated or placed in a small bowl and compacted to invert on a plate for a nice looking mound of rice.
Equipment
- 1 Wok
- 1 Large Pot with fine Sieve to strain and hold the hot oil after frying
- 2 Bowls for the batter and the Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 1 Tong
- 1 Spider
- 1 Digital Scale
- 1 Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pork - Julienne french fry size
- 1 Med Carrot - Sliced thin on an angle
- 1 Large Onion - Halved and each half quartered
- 1/2 Whole Red Bell Pepper - chopped into chunks
- 1/2 Whole Orange or Yellow Bell Pepper - chopped into chunks
- 8 Slices Cucumber - Sliced in half
- As Desired Pineapple Chunks
- As Needed Neutral Oil
Starch Batter
- 1 1/4 C Corn Starch
- 1 C Cold Water
- 3 Tbl Flour
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1/2 Tbl White Pepper
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Korean Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 1 C Water
- 1/2 C White Sugar - can use Brown for deeper taste
- 1/2 C Red Chinese Vinegar
- 1 Tbl Mirin
- 1 Tbl Potato Starch
- 1 Tbl Gochujang
Instructions
- Battered Protein: Combine the Batter ingredients together, mix and set aside. Slice the Pork into strips (Julienne), about french fry size, and weigh out 1 lb (ca. 454 g) worth. Place into the wet batter and mix. You can use this right away, but it is recommended to let the meat marinade in the batter while refrigerated for about 2 hours. With beef, marinate at least 2 hours or overnight to soften the meat.
- Preparation: Place the pot fitted with a sieve on the back of the stove to strain the hot oil when done. Heat a Wok up, filled halfway or a bit less, with Oil until it reaches 375F while you prepare the vegetables. Set the Cucumber slices & Carrot slices separate and aside. Everything else can go into a bowl. If you prefer firmer pineapple, these can be added the same time cucumbers are added towards the end. Then prepare the Sweet & Sour Sauce by combining all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix and set aside until needed.
- Deep Frying: When the Oil is ready, place half of the pork into the hot oil one at a time, quickly. They will stick together, so break them up with the tongs and deep Fry for about 5 minutes, or until crispy. Scoop them out with the spider and set aside to repeat for the second half. Allowing the Oil to reach 375 F again.Once these are set aside, let the oil reach 375F again and place all the meat back in to deep-fry about 1 minutes or so. Remove and set aside. Once done, strain and empty the hot oil through a fine sieve fitted over a pot on the back burner. The Wok will have a thin coating of oil and ready for stir-frying.
- Stir Frying: Return the Wok to the burner set over max heat. Add in Carrot slices with 2 Tbl of water and cook until the water has evaporated. Add the bowl of Vegetables (except the cucumbers) and stir-fry until softened but still crisp, about 3 minutes. Then add the Sweet & Sour Sauce with Cucumbers and bring it to a boil and hold for about 1 minute. Remove from heat. For firmer Pineapple Chunks, these can be added the same time as the Cucumbers. Toss in the Crispy Fried Meat to coat evenly and serve right away.