Alright, folks, gather ’round! Today, I’m spillin’ the beans on my attempt to recreate that “wuthering waves sweet and sour pork” dish. You know, the one that’s been all over the game lately.
First off, I hit the store. Grabbed some pork shoulder – gotta have that bit of fat for the good flavor. Then, bell peppers (red and green ’cause why not?), pineapple chunks (canned, I ain’t got time to chop a whole pineapple), ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch. The usual suspects for a sweet and sour gig.
Got home, cubed the pork into bite-sized pieces. Marinated it in a mix of soy sauce, a little ginger and garlic powder, and some cornstarch. Let that sit for about 30 minutes while I prepped the rest.
Next up, the sauce. Mixed ketchup, vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, sounded fancy), soy sauce, sugar, and a splash of pineapple juice from the can. Tasted it, tweaked it – needed more sugar, definitely more sugar. Gotta get that sweet spot, ya know?
Now, the fun part. Heated up some oil in my wok – yeah, I got a wok, don’t judge. Tossed the marinated pork in cornstarch, made sure it was coated real good. Then, fried that pork in batches until it was golden brown and crispy. Set it aside on some paper towels to drain the excess grease.
Wiped out the wok, added a little more oil, and stir-fried the bell peppers until they were slightly softened but still had a bit of crunch. Then, I threw in the pineapple chunks and gave them a quick toss.
Poured in the sweet and sour sauce, let it bubble and thicken for a minute or two. Then, I added the crispy pork back into the wok and tossed everything together until the pork was coated in that glorious, sticky sauce.
Served it up with some steamed rice. Honestly? It was pretty damn good. Not exactly like the game, probably, but close enough for government work. Sweet, sour, crispy, and savory – hit all the right notes.
Here’s the breakdown of what I learned:
- Don’t skimp on the sugar. Sweet and sour NEEDS that sweetness.
- Make sure your pork is DRY before coating it in cornstarch. Otherwise, it’ll be soggy.
- Don’t overcrowd the wok when frying the pork. Work in batches to keep the oil temp up.
Would I make it again? Hell yeah. It was easy, relatively quick, and satisfied that craving for something sweet and savory. Plus, it impressed the hell out of my roommates. They thought I was a culinary genius. Little do they know it was just a happy accident.
