The table's all set .... for a Chinese theme dinner in the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro !
Sweet & Sour Pork .... one of my absolute favourites ! When we lived on an even more remote farm than this one, I would regularly go for up to 3 months without seeing anyone other than my husband, Justin, Jerkin (the part time gardener who was actually called Julius but who called a jerry can a Jerkin which took me months to figure out, hence his nickname forever after became Jerkin) & our askari Simon (he is the one staff member I haven’t written about on the blog yet because … well …. because Simon is such a character that I don’t quite know where to start. In fact, Simon deserves his own entire blog !)
Anyway, where was I ? Aaahhh … yes. When we lived on our old farm and before we had started a family (read: I had more than an hour’s free time a day !) one day used to slip pretty much into the next and to change things up a bit, my hubby and I used to have a food theme evening every once in a while. (I know, it all sounds rather sad in hindsight, doesn’t it ? But I suppose at the time you do what you can to keep yourselves sane ! Ha ha) So, one night a week we would go Chinese, another night Italian, another night Indian & perhaps another night, Thai. I would cook food & decorate the table according to the ‘theme’ & we would light the candles and proceed to have a lovely evening …. imagining that we were in a posh restaurant in some far flung exotic city (what some people do for fun, ‘eh ?!)
Once we had a team of 3 Australian combine harvester drivers working on our farm for the safflower season. They stayed in a local guest house where a local lady cooked Tanzanian food for them and I used to have them over once in a while to our house for a slap up dinner. The first night I ever invited them over, I did a special Chinese theme evening for them – complete with all the tableware, music etc …. I will never forget the look on their faces as they walked in – after 3 month’s of bush living and eating goat every other night – they were blown away ! In fact, they still talk about it whenever I run into them in town & tell me it was one of the best meals they ever ate. (Well, of course they were going to say that, weren't they ? They wanted to be invited back for Italian the following week !)
So, every now and then we still have the odd ‘theme evening’ and I decided to have one recently when my mother-in-law was here …. so here is one of my favourite genuine Chinese recipes to serve … and one which the Aussie boys still talk about all these years later !
Sweet & Sour Pork (from “Foods of the World - The Cooking of China by Time-Life International, 1968)
450 gm lean boneless pork, preferably shoulder pork – cut into cubes
Batter:
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Cornflour (Cornstarch)
1 tbsp Flour
3 tbsp Chicken Stock
Oil for deep frying
Sweet & Sour Sauce:
2 ½ tsp Sesame oil (or groundnut oil)* I have used sunflower oil before
1 tsp finely chopped Garlic
1 large Green Pepper, seeded, de-ribbed & cut into small squares
1 medium Carrot, peeled & sliced into matchstick sized pieces
6 tbsp Chicken Stock
3 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar * I have used Balsamic Vinegar before
1 tsp Soy Sauce
21/2 tsp Cornflour (Cornstarch) mixed with 5 tsp cold Water
In a large bowl, mix together the egg, salt, cornflour, flour, 3 tbsp of chicken stock & salt to make a batter. Set aside.
For the sauce, have the sesame oil, garlic, green pepper, carrot, chicken stock, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and cornflour/water mixture within easy reach.
Just before cooking, add the pork cubes to the egg & flour mixture (batter) & stir until each piece of meat is well coated.
Pour the oil into a wok (or large saucepan) over a high heat and heat until it almost begins to smoke. Drop in half the coated pork cubes, one by one. Fry for 5 – 6 minutes, regulating the heat so that the pork turns a crisp, golden brown colour without burning. Remove the pork with a perforated spoon, drain on absorbent kitchen paper and place it in the oven to keep it warm. Then fry the other half of the batch of pork in the same manner.
To make the sweet & sour sauce, pour off any remaining oil in the wok/saucepan & just leave a little on the bottom. Heat until almost about to smoke, then add the garlic, green pepper & carrot and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the carrot & pepper begin to darken in colour. (Be careful not to let them burn).
Pour in the 6 tablespoons of chicken stock, the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce, and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for about 1 minute, or until the sugar as thoroughly dissolved. Immediately give the cornflour/cold water mixture a quick stir to recombine it & then add it to the pan. Cook for about a minute longer, stirring constantly. When the sauce is thick and clear, pour the entire contents of the pan over the fried pork, stir to blend & serve immediately over a bed or rice or noodles.
Anyway, where was I ? Aaahhh … yes. When we lived on our old farm and before we had started a family (read: I had more than an hour’s free time a day !) one day used to slip pretty much into the next and to change things up a bit, my hubby and I used to have a food theme evening every once in a while. (I know, it all sounds rather sad in hindsight, doesn’t it ? But I suppose at the time you do what you can to keep yourselves sane ! Ha ha) So, one night a week we would go Chinese, another night Italian, another night Indian & perhaps another night, Thai. I would cook food & decorate the table according to the ‘theme’ & we would light the candles and proceed to have a lovely evening …. imagining that we were in a posh restaurant in some far flung exotic city (what some people do for fun, ‘eh ?!)
Once we had a team of 3 Australian combine harvester drivers working on our farm for the safflower season. They stayed in a local guest house where a local lady cooked Tanzanian food for them and I used to have them over once in a while to our house for a slap up dinner. The first night I ever invited them over, I did a special Chinese theme evening for them – complete with all the tableware, music etc …. I will never forget the look on their faces as they walked in – after 3 month’s of bush living and eating goat every other night – they were blown away ! In fact, they still talk about it whenever I run into them in town & tell me it was one of the best meals they ever ate. (Well, of course they were going to say that, weren't they ? They wanted to be invited back for Italian the following week !)
So, every now and then we still have the odd ‘theme evening’ and I decided to have one recently when my mother-in-law was here …. so here is one of my favourite genuine Chinese recipes to serve … and one which the Aussie boys still talk about all these years later !
Sweet & Sour Pork (from “Foods of the World - The Cooking of China by Time-Life International, 1968)
450 gm lean boneless pork, preferably shoulder pork – cut into cubes
Batter:
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Cornflour (Cornstarch)
1 tbsp Flour
3 tbsp Chicken Stock
Oil for deep frying
Sweet & Sour Sauce:
2 ½ tsp Sesame oil (or groundnut oil)* I have used sunflower oil before
1 tsp finely chopped Garlic
1 large Green Pepper, seeded, de-ribbed & cut into small squares
1 medium Carrot, peeled & sliced into matchstick sized pieces
6 tbsp Chicken Stock
3 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar * I have used Balsamic Vinegar before
1 tsp Soy Sauce
21/2 tsp Cornflour (Cornstarch) mixed with 5 tsp cold Water
In a large bowl, mix together the egg, salt, cornflour, flour, 3 tbsp of chicken stock & salt to make a batter. Set aside.
For the sauce, have the sesame oil, garlic, green pepper, carrot, chicken stock, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and cornflour/water mixture within easy reach.
Just before cooking, add the pork cubes to the egg & flour mixture (batter) & stir until each piece of meat is well coated.
Pour the oil into a wok (or large saucepan) over a high heat and heat until it almost begins to smoke. Drop in half the coated pork cubes, one by one. Fry for 5 – 6 minutes, regulating the heat so that the pork turns a crisp, golden brown colour without burning. Remove the pork with a perforated spoon, drain on absorbent kitchen paper and place it in the oven to keep it warm. Then fry the other half of the batch of pork in the same manner.
To make the sweet & sour sauce, pour off any remaining oil in the wok/saucepan & just leave a little on the bottom. Heat until almost about to smoke, then add the garlic, green pepper & carrot and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the carrot & pepper begin to darken in colour. (Be careful not to let them burn).
Pour in the 6 tablespoons of chicken stock, the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce, and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for about 1 minute, or until the sugar as thoroughly dissolved. Immediately give the cornflour/cold water mixture a quick stir to recombine it & then add it to the pan. Cook for about a minute longer, stirring constantly. When the sauce is thick and clear, pour the entire contents of the pan over the fried pork, stir to blend & serve immediately over a bed or rice or noodles.
