This Is The Key To Maximum Flavor When Making Sweet And Sour Pork

Sweet and sour sauce has become a staple of Chinese American cuisine, including its use on the delicious dish sweet and sour pork, which can be found on just about any Chinese restaurant's menu. But if you don't feel like getting take out, you can easily whip up a batch at home. To find out what you need to know to make the best sweet and sour pork, Tasting Table spoke with an expert: Derek Chan, the R&D Manager at Mamahuhu.

Chan explained that there's a couple key ingredients that play a major role in the dish. He said, "For optimal flavor, we recommend marinating with some cornstarch and Shaoxing wine, this helps tenderize the meat." For anyone unfamiliar, Shaoxing wine is a rice wine that is used often in Chinese cooking. It has a rich and complex flavor, with notes of both sweetness and saltiness. While it's easy to get your hands on cornstarch, it may be a little more difficult to find Shaoxing wine — if you can't find it, some good alternatives include dry sherry or cooking sake.

Besides taking the time to marinate the pork in Shaoxing wine and cornstarch, Derek Chan has a recommendation for making sure that your sweet and sour pork comes out as delicious as possible: Make sure there's plenty of sauce. He said, "One of the hallmarks of the dish is ensuring every piece of pork is thoroughly coated in the sauce. No dry spots!" If you're looking for some guidelines to follow, you can turn to Tasting Table's crispy sweet and sour pork recipe. 

This recipe is tried and true, so you'll be sure to make enough sauce to coat all of that crispy pork. And you can easily swap out the marinade ingredients in the recipe for Chan's advice of simply using Shaoxing wine and cornstarch. Or, you can make the pork based on your own favorite recipe — or personal experience — and use our recipe for sweet and sour sauce if you need it. You can even make a little extra sauce to ensure that there's enough to coat the pork, as Chan advises.