SWEET & SOUR PORK

Don’t call the takeaway – cook your own sweet and sour pork using a vibrant marinade and tinned pineapple. Swap the pork for chicken or prawns if you prefer

It’s a New Year in the Chinese calendar, and what better way to celebrate than with a homemade Chinese banquet? Chinese food has long been a favourite cuisine in our country, whether it’s a Saturday night takeaway or quick midweek stirfry, we love the flavours of the orient.

And the great news is, many of our most-loved Chinese dishes are quick and easy to make at home. The key to making these quick-to-cook dishes is preparation – make sure everything you need is organised and to hand before you start and you can’t fail.

Chinese ingredients, such as shaoxing rice wine and oyster sauce, are available in most supermarkets or you can find them online. If you want to go the whole hog and make dessert too visit bbcgoodfood.com and search for lychee & ginger sorbet.

Happy New Year! 1 pork fillet (about 500g), trimmed and cut into 3cm chunks sunflower or vegetable oil, for deep frying cooked rice or noodles, to serve

FOR THE MARINADE 1 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry 1 garlic clove, grated thumb-sized piece ginger, grated

FOR THE COATING

50g cornflour

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground white pepper

2 tsp celery salt

2 tsp caster sugar

FOR THE SAUCE

1 tbsp sunflower oil 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped thumb-sized piece ginger, chopped

1 green or red pepper, roughly chopped

2 tbsp tomato ketchup 4 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp soft brown sugar 300g can pineapple chunks

1 tbsp sesame seeds

FOR THE BATTER 100g rice flour

100g cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

1 Mix the pork with the marinade ingredients and leave to sit for at least 15 mins, or chill for a few hours. In a separate bowl, mix all the coating ingredients. Drain any excess liquid off the pork and toss the pork in the seasoned coating. This can be done 1 hr ahead. 2

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a shallow saucepan and gently fry the garlic, ginger and peppers until just starting to soften. Now drop in all the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds. Bring everything to the boil and cook for a few mins until thickened, then take off the heat. To make the batter, whisk the flours and baking powder together with 200ml water to a smooth paste. 3

Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer, large saucepan or a wok to 180C or until a drop of batter sizzles and browns in 20 secs. Dip the marinated pork in the batter mix (do it in two or three batches) and let any excess drip off. Fry the pork in batches for about 5-6 mins or until golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper until all the batches are done. Make sure you bring the oil back to the correct temperature between each batch. Coat the crispy pork in the sauce, then sprinkle over the sesame seeds, coriander and serve with rice or noodles.