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I'm tired of the gloppy concotion called "Sweet and sour (insert meat of choice) that has been the staple of "Chinamerican" restaurants for many years! We need to bring back the dish as it was originally created - but what was it?
So you don't know what the dish was yet you want to "take it back"? Color me confused. Also, you may not know this but dishes evolve and don't always stay the same. It'd be pretty boring if they did.
So you don't know what the dish was yet you want to "take it back"? Color me confused. Also, you may not know this but dishes evolve and don't always stay the same. It'd be pretty boring if they did.
I assumed that with the desire to simplify the food for American palates, the original idea has been lost.
The "real" sweet and sour pork that I grew up with is very similar to this. Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe It is not overly sweet or thick like you see in most Chinese-American places. The key is having nice and crunchy bits of pork with the bone. It should be a wonderful balance of the sweet and sour along with lightly coated pork (not battered).
The "real" sweet and sour pork that I grew up with is very similar to this. Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe It is not overly sweet or thick like you see in most Chinese-American places. The key is having nice and crunchy bits of pork with the bone. It should be a wonderful balance of the sweet and sour along with lightly coated pork (not battered).
I'll try this. My version is very pared down and I use fish sauce. I know it's important to get crispness on the pork, but I tend to pan fry rather than deep fry because it's less of a hassle. I agree lots of restaurant sweet and sour leans more to the sweet side, and it's gloppy. I don't add a cornstarch slurry for that reason. I notice this recipe doesn't either.
What, though, is the purpose of the custard powder in the dredge mix?
What, though, is the purpose of the custard powder in the dredge mix?
Hmmm...I had to Google custard powder. What is custard powder? « Baking Bites I don't remember my father ever using this in his recipe. From reading the description, I would think that you could easily omit it from the recipe.
Hmmm...I had to Google custard powder. What is custard powder? « Baking Bites I don't remember my father ever using this in his recipe. From reading the description, I would think that you could easily omit it from the recipe.
Whole sweet and sour red snapper is popular too.
Maybe it's to give the coating more body. Though the pork is already marinated in egg and dredged in corn starch/flour. Yeah, I don't like the thick, heavy fried coating. Omitted! I use lychee instead of pineapple and adjust the sharpness with vinegar. I do have pineapple vinegar too.
I remember it having a reddish color and had green peppers, pineapples, onions, and cherries in it with a tempura battered pork.
Now it has the pork and sauce.
It's interesting to see that most of what you remember... green peppers, pineapples, and cherries... are nowhere to be found in the recipe George Chong said was authentic to Chinese cooking.
That's one of the dilemmas about discussing Chinese food in the US, that few of us have ever tasted authentic Chinese food. We only know a very loose adaptation of the traditional Chinese styles and recipes, localized to American tastes and sensibilities and available foods. It's called "Chinese" but it really isn't. When my mother took one of the first tourist tours through Beijing, she later remarked that for two weeks in China she had amazing food, some that she found delicious and some... otherwise. But not one single bit of it was recognizable as anything she had ever seen in a "Chinese" restaurant in the U.S.
My personal favorite Chinese restaurants are the places where people of Chinese heritage go to eat. No offense meant, just an ironic observation that I never see pineapple or green peppers or cherries in the dishes served in those places.
Maybe we need a new designation for this "not really" cuisine, this "more American than not" food style which is so popular and ubiquitous in the U.S.... Chinese-ish?
It's interesting to see that most of what you remember... green peppers, pineapples, and cherries... are nowhere to be found in the recipe George Chong said was authentic to Chinese cooking.
That's one of the dilemmas about discussing Chinese food in the US, that few of us have ever tasted authentic Chinese food. We only know a very loose adaptation of the traditional Chinese styles and recipes, localized to American tastes and sensibilities and available foods. It's called "Chinese" but it really isn't. When my mother took one of the first tourist tours through Beijing, she later remarked that for two weeks in China she had amazing food, some that she found delicious and some... otherwise. But not one single bit of it was recognizable as anything she had ever seen in a "Chinese" restaurant in the U.S.
My personal favorite Chinese restaurants are the places where people of Chinese heritage go to eat. No offense meant, just an ironic observation that I never see pineapple or green peppers or cherries in the dishes served in those places.
Maybe we need a new designation for this "not really" cuisine, this "more American than not" food style which is so popular and ubiquitous in the U.S.... Chinese-ish?
It may be interesting, but it is what I had 30 years ago from Chinese restaurants as compared to what I have had recently. I really don't think there is a dilemma in discussing Chinese food in the US.
I actually do feel there was offense meant, and I really don't care. I didn't cook the food, I only said what I had in it many years ago.
When you post like this, it comes off as a snub-nosed, know it all way.
I probably just made my coffee wrong.
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But not one single bit of it was recognizable as anything she had ever seen in a "Chinese" restaurant in the U.S. 
