Guo Bao Rou (Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 40 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 3 servings
- Ingredients
- 9
About this dish
Thin slices of pork loin get a thick potato-starch coat and two rounds of frying, which puff the crust into a hard, glassy shell that cracks when you bite.
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The sauce is just vinegar, sugar, and soy, so it is paler and sharper than the ketchup-red versions common in Korean Chinese restaurants. That tangier style traces back to late-Qing Harbin, where the dish was created to suit Russian guests.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Slice 400g pork loin into 0.5cm pieces and pat both sides dry so the coating sticks evenly.
Cut 50g carrot and 40g green onion into thin strips before heating the oil.
- 2
Add 80ml water gradually to 120g potato starch and mix until thick, heavy, and barely flowing.
Coat each pork slice fully, pressing batter onto the edges so bare spots do not fry hard.
- 3
Heat 900ml frying oil to 170C and lower in the pork without crowding.
Fry for about 3 minutes, turning once, until the coating sets pale yellow and feels firm but not deeply browned.
- 4
Rest the fried pork on a rack for 2 minutes so trapped steam escapes.
Raise the oil to 185C, refry for 90 seconds, and remove when the crust looks glassy and taps dry.
- 5
Set a pan over high heat, then add 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, and 1 tbsp soy sauce.
Stir for about 30 seconds until the sugar dissolves and large shiny bubbles appear.
- 6
Add the carrot and green onion to the bubbling sauce and stir-fry for 10 seconds.
Add the double-fried pork, toss fast for no more than 30 seconds, then turn off the heat and serve immediately.
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