Guangdong province, Canton (Guangzhou). Sweet and sour preparations appear in Chinese culinary literature from the Tang Dynasty. The Cantonese restaurant version became internationally standardised through the British-Chinese takeaway tradition.
Cantonese sweet and sour pork (gu lao rou) is crispy fried pork pieces in a glossy, balanced sweet-sour-savoury sauce with capsicum, onion, and pineapple. The sauce must be balanced — the Chinese name gu lao means old-fashioned vinegar-sweetness. The commercial orange-red sauce of Chinese takeaways is a bastardisation. The authentic sauce uses Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, ketchup in small amounts, and pineapple juice.
Tsingtao lager — the clean Chinese lager alongside sweet and sour pork is the standard combination in any context.
{"Pork: shoulder, cut to 2.5cm dice, marinated with soy, Shaoxing, and egg white","Double-fry coating: toss in cornstarch, fry at 180C until pale gold, rest, fry again at 195C until deeply golden and crisp","The sauce: Chinkiang vinegar, tomato ketchup (a small amount), pineapple juice, soy sauce, sugar — balanced to equal sweet and sour","The bloom: fry garlic briefly in oil, add the sauce, bring to a simmer, add a cornstarch slurry to glaze","Capsicum and onion: par-blanched, added to the sauce at the last moment","Toss the pork in the sauce immediately before serving — not in advance, or the crunch is lost"}
The moment where sweet and sour pork lives or dies is the toss — the pork must be added to the sauce and served within 60 seconds. Any longer and the cornstarch coating absorbs the sauce and the crunch is gone. Cook the sauce in advance, then fry and toss at the last moment.
{"Over-sweet sauce: the sweet and sour should be balanced — not a candy sauce","Soft pork: under-frying produces pork that softens immediately in the sauce","Using the same sauce as takeaways: the commercial sauce is made with food colouring and corn syrup"}