Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork Balls in Crispy Batter
Sweet and sour pork balls, a Chinese takeaway classic, tender pork in a crispy fried batter served with a glorious sweet and tangy sauce.
An indulgent and nostalgic recipe that, despite the long list of ingredients, takes right around 30 minutes to cook.
Takeout Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork
Chinese takeout crispy sweet and sour pork balls were probably my first introduction to flavours that were not traditionally ‘British’.
For many years, it was the only thing I would ask for on those rare treat takeaway nights.
To this day, I am still a little bit obsessed with these flavours.
These crispy balls use the same sauce that I use in my sweet and sour prawns recipe, and it unashamedly rocks both tomato ketchup and pineapple!
It is also a sister recipe to my crispy sweet and sour chicken balls recipe and is similar to my crispy lemon chicken and sesame chicken in its concept.
It contains chunks of pork tenderloin or fillet wrapped in a thick and crispy batter.
A batter is simple to make and one that keeps its crispiness right until you slather on that delicious sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
You have options for how much sugar and vinegar to use. Why?
Growing up, sweet and sour pork came with an incredibly sweet sauce. As I have grown up (don't laugh), my tastes have shifted, and now I prefer a much sharper sauce.
I would advise you to make the sauce with the lowest amount of sugar and rice vinegar, then have a taste and adjust to your palate. None of these ingredients need cooking, so tuck right on in!
Remember the flavours will mellow a little as the sauce cooks, particularly the sour elements.
Why is your sauce chunky?
Typically, sweet and sour sauce from a Chinese takeaway comes without any vegetables... I prefer them in there. We all need our veggies, right?
If you omit the vegetables, you end up with a stonking Chinese takeaway-style sauce.
Can I bake the crispy pork balls?
I have experimented with cooking this batter in both a hot oven and an air fryer, and it is really not a viable option.
This is an indulgent dish, go with frying to get the full effect!
How long will the batter stay crispy?
The corn flour used in this recipe will still be pretty crispy 20 minutes after cooking. So there is plenty of time to batch-cook the balls. This is because of the cornflour in the batter.
Sweet and sour sauce on the side or over the pork balls?
Now that's a question people will answer in different ways. I like to slather mine in the sauce. I love the contrast of the batter that has softened a little with the crispy bits that have not soaked in the sauce.
Others disagree; it really is a personal preference.
Serving Suggestions.
I almost always serve my battered sweet and sour pork balls with plain old rice; it's a perfect way to mop up leftover sauce.
If I am trying to impress, then I would throw together a quick egg fried rice (as I do in the video for this recipe), although that does take some planning.
For nostalgia, I serve sweet and sour pork with chips, not quite fries, for my American readers. I cook my chip shop chips, but do not add the vinegar; they are remarkably close to Chinese takeout chips.
An alternative to this would be to serve it with my crispy fried potatoes.
I also, on occasion, like to have a portion of soy sauce noodles or even some sweet chilli noodles on the side.
Equipment Used
I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- Wok. You can use a deep-fat fryer instead of a wok if you want.
- A thermometer for checking the temperature of the oil. I use a sugar thermometer in a wok.
- 18cm or 7" saucepan.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, cups and spoons.
- Mixing bowls.
- Whisk.
- Slotted, serving and stirring spoons.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen paper.
Sweet and Sour Pork Balls Recipe
Ingredients
- 350 g Pork Tenderloin 12oz
For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
- 3 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
- ⅛ teaspoon MSG Optional
- 3 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
- 4 tablespoon Pineapple Juice (I use the juice from the tinned pineapple)
- 2 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil
- 2 tablespoon Water
- ½ tablespoon Cornflour
- 1 Small Red Onion 75g
- 1 Small Red Pepper
- 225 g Tin of Pineapple Chunks in Juice 8oz
- 1 teaspoon Cooking Oil
For the Batter:
- 35 g Plain Flour ¼ Cup + 1 tablespoon (All Purpose in the US)
- 30 g Cornflour ¼ Cup
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 75 ml Cold Sparkling Water ⅓ Cup
- Oil for Frying
Instructions
- Cut the pork into 2.5cm (1") cubes and dry them well on kitchen paper.
- Top and tail the onion, then cut it in half lengthways, then slice it into 5-6mm (¼") thick strips.
- Remove the seeds from the red pepper and cut it into strips approximately 5-6mm (¼") thick.
- Drian the pineapple chunks, reserving the juice; you will need 3-4 tablespoons of the juice for the sauce.
- Mix together the ingredients for the sauce apart from the cooking oil, water, cornflour, vegetables and pineapple.
- Heat the cooking oil for the sauce in an 18cm or 7" saucepan over a medium-high heat, and when it is hot, add the onion and red pepper and soften for 2 minutes.
- Add the sauce mix and bring it all to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes.
- Throw the dry ingredients for the batter into a bowl and mix well.
- Mix the water with the cornflour for the sauce and stir it into the simmering sauce until it begins to thicken.
- Add the pineapple to the sauce, reduce the heat to very low and keep warm whilst you cook the pork.
- Just before you are ready to cook, whisk cold water into the dry ingredients for the batter.
- Add 4-5cm (1½-2") of oil to the base of a wok and heat it to 170°C or 340°F.
- Dredge the pork cubes in 1 tablespoon of flour and dip the pork into the batter.
- Carefully drop the pork into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan; stick to 5 or 6 at a time. Fry for 5-6 minutes before draining on kitchen paper.
- Serve the balls with the sauce either on the side or drizzled over the top.
I have left over roast pork, can I use this?
Love the recipe can't wait for dinner tonight.
Hi Mandy...
To be honest, I have never tried, but it should work kinda ok. I use pork tenderloin in my version, which doesn't need a lot of cooking, so you will not be putting the leftover pork through too much of a second cooking process, it will obviously cook it on a little further though. It would be better with a fattier cut of pork rather than the loin.
Enjoy 🙂
Brian
You keep mentioning adding the battered pork to hot oil when the Temperature is reached. What temperature? I cannot find any reference to temperature level in your whole long and very convoluted recipe.
So you completely ignored instruction 10 where it clearly states "Add 4-5cm (1½-2") of oil to the base of a wok and heat it to 170°C or 340°F.", there is nothing else on that line other than the temperature of the oil... It is done as a separate line because the temperature of the oil is important!
It also states it in an overlay on the video.
Reading isn't for everyone apparently!
We're a very long way from any kind of takeaway, so I'm really looking forward to trying this. Could I just check - does the pork have time to cook through from raw in 5-6 minutes? Or could it be part cooked, then battered and finished?
Yes, the pork cooks all of the way through but remains tender in the cooking time, this is deep frying so it is a very quick cooking time.
Brian.
Hubster and I love the good old fashioned Chinese takeaway, brings back so many childhood memories,in saying all that we have tried and tried did I say tried again and again to master the classic sweet and sour balls. Just by accident I found your recipe, and to say it has surpassed all other recipes is an understatement. We had some leftover pork from our Sunday roast, so I cut into cubes, dusted with the flour as you suggested, then followed the recipe. As with all the other recipes, hubby and myself want holding out much hope, but how wrong we were. So much so, we had to do Rock, Paper, Scissors for the last remaining ball. Thank you for sharing this recipe, your ribs are next to be tried and tested. Once again thank you x
Wow good recipe.I love your way og making recipes.Tastefull and I am thankful to you for best recipes you share with us..
The meatballs are smiling at me, no kidding! =D I think I would finish this off in a jiffy. Maybe it's a sign that I should finally just buy Mirin. Your sweet and sour pork balls would surely be a good excuse. 😉
Love everything about this! I'm all about Asian flavors all the time so this is perfect for me. Think I could omit or replace the Chiangking Vinegar with something else/
We always order this in, even though we know it prolly has all kinds of unhealthy stuff in it. So we would absolutely love to make it at home. This looks amazing. Certainly better than any takeout! Plus, we know what goes in it! PS: I never would have thought it'd have kefir. Interesting!
I love sweet and sour anything, this looks so delicious!
Wow good recipe.I love your way og making recipes.Tastefull and I am thankful to you for best recipes you share with us..
This looks amazing! So much flavor in this!
Thanks Kristina
The meatballs are smiling at me, no kidding! =D I think I would finish this off in a jiffy. Maybe it's a sign that I should finally just buy Mirin. Your sweet and sour pork balls would surely be a good excuse. 😉
You would have to be careful, that sweet sauce is hot stuff 😉 I love using mirin it add a depth of flavour that is often sadly missing in home cooked recipes.
Love everything about this! I'm all about Asian flavors all the time so this is perfect for me. Think I could omit or replace the Chiangking Vinegar with something else/
Thanks Vicky, there are lots of potential replacements for Chinkiang vinegar, none are really one for one but what you are really after is the sour element, so you can go regular rice wine vinegar, red vinegar with a touch of sugar or even something like balsamic which can work in a pinch.
We always order this in, even though we know it prolly has all kinds of unhealthy stuff in it. So we would absolutely love to make it at home. This looks amazing. Certainly better than any takeout! Plus, we know what goes in it! PS: I never would have thought it'd have kefir. Interesting!
I would probably order in too but as my nearest takeaway is a 200km round trip awway it is definitely easier to order in... The Kefir is definitely one of my additions, the batter I was bought up with was a more traditional egg flour milk kinda batter or maybe even a more traditional Asian cornflower and water batter, the kefir defiitely gives it more of a 'buttermilk' feel kinda like fried chicken but I can't get butter milk here 😉
I love sweet and sour anything, this looks so delicious!
Thanks Renee, that whole sweet sour and salty thing really does it for me too 🙂