Sweet, sour & spicy passion fruit pork

Step by Step

Step 1

Begin by marinating the pork. In a large bowl, combine the Chinese five spice, light soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine and ginger, then add the pork and mix to coat evenly. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Step 2

For the sweet and sour sauce, strain the passion fruit pulp through a sieve over a saucepan, discarding the seeds. Add the other ingredients to the passion fruit juice, except the cornflour; whisk to combine and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and set aside.

Step 3

Heat the oil in a wok (no more than half-full) to 180°C (if you don’t have a digital probe thermometer, a cube of bread added to the pan will turn golden in 30 seconds). Line a plate with kitchen paper. Take the pork out of the fridge and mix in the beaten egg. Put the cornflour in a bowl and add the pork, discarding the excess marinade; toss to coat. Deep-fry in 2-3 batches until browned and crisp – about 3-4 minutes per batch, turning halfway, then use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer to the kitchen paper-lined plate. Carefully pour the oil into a heatproof container (to cool and later discard), leaving about 1 tbsp in the wok.

Step 4

Put the wok over a high heat then stir-fry the onion, peppers, carrot and salad onion batons for 5 minutes until becoming tender. Add the chillies and garlic and fry for 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce and let it come to a bubble. Mix 1 tsp cornflour with 1 tbsp water and gradually stir in to thicken the sauce. Add the fried pork and heat through for a minute or two. Scatter with the salad onion greens and serve immediately with noodles, if liked.