a big turn from the cold

It’s been less than a week since I arrived in Malaysia and I’m already spending all my time devouring Malaysia’s goodness.  I know, I have to admit that I am a glutton – that’s the result of coming from a family & friend of foodies:)

The weather here is super hot and humid – definitely a big turn from the cold and chilly Melbourne weather!  I had the best moments eating at many of Malaysia’s tai chow (Open air chinese stir-fry coffee shops) in shorts & slippers (LOL) – reminiscing sweet memories and taste from some of my favourite dishes like Sweet & Sour Pork (Gu Lou Yuk), Deep Fried Yam Basket (Fat Put Piu Hiong), Steamed Fish with Hot Chilli Paste (Cheong Ching Fei Zhou Yu), Hokkien Mee (Fu Kin Chow), Assam Laksa …. so many more that I can’t even list them down:)

After a string of delicious tai chow dishes, I was inspired to recreate my favourite dish – Sweet & Sour Pork aka Gu Lou Yuk.  Sweet & Sour Pork is undoubtedly one of the most well known Cantonese dish, eaten and loved by anyone and everyone who has tried it.  The success of sweet & sour pork lies in the crispy, light bite texture and sweet, sour sauce, which by the way, is not easy to copy and surely does not look and taste like those found in the Australia food courts!

Many recipes have been tried and tested but they don’t look and taste right … that is, until now.  This recipe was adapted from Smoky Wok but I use the triple deep fry technique (used in Chicken Kara age frying method) to preserve crispiness of the batter (without being too oily) and to keep its pork’s tenderness.  According to Smoky Wok, the essential ingredient is the plum sauce which gives the depth of sourness to this dish – and she’s absolutely right!