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Chinese Fried Pork Balls
Chinese takeaway pork balls served with a homemade sweet and sour sauce. It’s so good that EVERYONE will be asking you for the recipe…
This recipe is my dream come true! Pieces of pork are coated in a simple batter and it’s fried until beautifully golden and slightly crispy.
The pieces of pork in the middle are so juicy and soft, and to finish it all off, I serve it with a homemade sweet and sour sauce that’s so easy to make too.
This is one of my favourite takeaway recipes and I can’t wait for you to try this! With a few basic ingredients and only 4 main steps, you’ll be eating these pork balls in no time.
Chinese Sweet And Sour Pork Balls
If I’m ordering a Chinese takeaway, I almost always order a couple of these too. That’s what inspired me to make my own from scratch. I find this recipe to taste just like Chinese takeaways and the texture is the same too.
I just love these pork balls, so much so that I also have a Chinese chicken balls and a prawn balls recipe on my site. Just like this recipe, I accompany it with a sweet and sour sauce too (it’s a must!). My prawn and chicken version use the same batter as this sweet and sour pork recipe, but the seasonings slightly differ.
Recipe Ingredients
Below are the ingredients I used to make this recipe:
- Diced Pork: I used pork leg diced into small bite-sized pieces. I used a pack that’s pre-diced which saves me a lot of time when prepping.
- Seasonings: The pork is seasoned with salt, white pepper and soy sauce before it’s coated in flour to help it stick to the batter.
- Batter: The batter recipe for the pork balls is so simple! I mix self-raising flour, water, salt and a small amount of oil together.
- Sweet And Sour Sauce: This is made from Ketchup, water, sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice and cornflour.
How To Make Chinese Sweet And Sour Pork Balls
Here’s a summary of how I make these Chinese battered pork balls. You can get the full recipe instructions on the recipe card below:
Step One:
I add diced pork into a mixing bowl with salt, dark soy sauce and white pepper, then I mix everything together until it’s evenly distributed.
Two tablespoons of self-raising flour is added to the mixing bowl, and I give it a mix until the diced pork is coated in the flour.
Step Two:
In a separate bowl, I add self-raising flour and salt and mix everything together until it’s evenly distributed. Then I pour water into the bowl and mix it together.
I leave the batter to rest for 5 minutes as this will help remove any lumps. Once 5 minutes has passed, I add a teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix it together until evenly distributed.
Step Three:
Oil is heated in a pan over a medium heat. I coat 3 to 4 pieces of pork at a time into the batter, then I fry them for 4 minutes or until the batter is golden. They’ll float to the top when they’re cooked.
Step Four:
Water, ketchup, sugar, pineapple juice and vinegar is added to a clean pan and heated over a medium to high heat. I leave the sauce to simmer for 2 minutes before mixing a small teaspoon of cornflour with a tablespoon of water.
I pour the cornflour mixture into the sauce and mix until it’s evenly distributed. Then, I leave the sauce to simmer for a further 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
How To Serve
I pretty much always dip the Chinese pork balls into the sweet and sour sauce! You could plate the balls and drizzle the sauce over it or serve it on the side (like in my pictures). I also like to dip them in this incredibly creamy Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup.
For a Chinese takeaway feast, you could serve this recipe with a side of king prawn fried rice, sesame prawn toast or chicken chow mein. Or go different with a portion of skin on fries or dirty with this dirty fries recipe!
Want More Sweet And Sour Sauce?
This recipe makes enough sauce to dip the pork balls into but if you want more sauce, double the sauce ingredients. I do this whenever I fancy a bit more than a small side of sauce.
Feel free to change the ratio of ingredients to match your own personal taste. I don’t like my sweet and sour sauce too sweet, but others do, I prefer more of a sour taste.
Chinese Sweet And Sour Pork Balls
Ingredients
- 300 g Diced Pork
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp White Pepper
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce Or Light Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Self-Raising Flour
Pork Ball Batter
- 200 g Self-Raising Flour
- 200 ml Water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vegetable Oil
Sweet And Sour Sauce
- 230 ml Water
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Ketchup
- 3 tbsp Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Pineapple Juice
- 1 tsp Cornflour Mixed With 1 tbsp Water
Instructions
- Add diced pork into a mixing bowl. Add salt, dark soy sauce and white pepper to the mixing bowl and mix together until evenly distributed.300 g Diced Pork, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce, 1 tsp White Pepper
- Then add 2 tablespoons of self-raising flour to the mixing bowl and coat the diced pork with the flour.2 tbsp Self-Raising Flour
- In a separate bowl, add self-raising flour and salt and mix until evenly distributed. Then pour water into the bowl and mix together.200 g Self-Raising Flour, 1 tsp Salt, 200 ml Water
- Leave the batter to rest for 5 minutes as this will help remove any lumps. Once 5 minutes have passed, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix together until evenly distributed.1 tsp Vegetable Oil
- Heat oil in a pan over a medium heat. Depending on the size of your mixing bowl, coat 3 to 4 pieces of pork at a time into the batter.(Add more or less depending on the size of mixing bowl you are using.)
- Add 3 to 4 coated pieces of pork into the oil and fry for 4 minutes or until the batter is golden. They’ll float to the top when they’re cooked.
- Place water, ketchup, sugar, pineapple juice and vinegar into a clean pan and heat over a medium to high heat.230 ml Water, 3 tbsp Sugar, 3 tbsp Vinegar, 2 tbsp Pineapple Juice, 3 tbsp Ketchup
- Leave the sauce to simmer for 2 minutes before mixing a small teaspoon of cornflour with a tablespoon of water.1 tsp Cornflour
- Pour the cornflour mixture into the sauce and mix until evenly distributed. Leave the sauce to simmer for a further 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Video
Nutrition
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Tom
Super recipe, thanks! The sweet and sour sauce is just right, I halved the ingredients just for myself, very impressed. No glutinous unknown ingredients and additives. I used rice vinegar, gave a lovely balance.
Michelle
Thanks for commenting Tom!
Gail
This was really easy. Thank you so much for posting it.
Michelle
Thanks for commenting Gail!