Peking mandarin pork

A twist on a Chinese classic. “Deepfried meats don’t have to just be crispy,” says chef Jeremy Pang. “In this dish, the sparing use of cornflour creates a crisped edge around each piece of pork, at the same time allowing it to soak up plenty of the moreish sweet and sour sauce.”

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

2 pork chops or shoulder steaks 1/2 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 spring onion, cut into 2cm chunks 3 star anise

1 small cinnamon stick

Vegetable oil

Handful of coriander leaves, to garnish

For the marinade:

1/2tsp salt

1/2tsp Chinese five spice 1/4tsp sugar

1tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)

1tsp sesame oil

4tbsp cornflour

For the sauce:

1/2tbsp orange marmalade 100ml fresh orange juice 1tbsp rice vinegar

1tbsp plum sauce (or ketchup) 1tbsp light soy sauce

1tsp dark soy sauce

100ml chicken stock

Method

1. Carefully, using the back of your knife or cleaver, bash the pork chops or steaks to tenderize the meat, then cut into three to four centimetre pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Massage the marinade ingredients into the pork, taking care to add in the cornflour at the very end and mix well.

2. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

3. Build your ‘wok clock’ (i.e. arrange your prepared ingredients on a plate before you cook, in the order you need them): Start at 12 o’clock with the marinated pork, followed by the ginger, garlic and spring onion, star anise and cinnamon stick, and lastly the sauce bowl.

4. Deep-fry the pork in vegetable oil in two batches at 180°C for four to five minutes until golden brown. Transfer the pork to a plate lined with kitchen paper.

5. If you used your wok for deepfrying, carefully pour out the oil into a heatproof bowl to cool and give your wok a quick wipe with kitchen paper. Place the wok back on the hob and bring half a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a high heat until smoking hot.

6. Add the ginger, garlic and spring onion to the wok and stirfry for 30-60 seconds before adding the star anise and cinnamon stick. Next add the sauce to the wok and bring to a vigorous boil. Once bubbling rapidly, add the fried pieces of pork into the sauce and vigorously boil for a further one to two minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve.