Description
A flagship of Beijing Imperial cuisine, loved by Empress Dowager Cixi. Tender pork fillet is coated in starch, fried crispy, and rapidly glazed in a thickened sweet-sour sauce of soy, black vinegar, and sugar. Similar to sweet and sour pork, but uses absolutely zero vegetables.
Restaurants serving Zhua Chao Li Ji (Beijing Sweet and Sour Pork Fillet)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Pork fillet
- Potato starch
- Soy sauce
- Black vinegar
- Sugar
- Cooking wine
- Scallion
- Ginger
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- Slice premium lean pork fillet.
- Marinate with soy and wine. Vigorously coat the meat with a thick starch slurry using your hands.
- Drop into 160°C oil and fry until cooked.
- Raise oil to 190°C and double-fry until the outer batter turns rock-crispy.
- In a bowl, mix soy, black vinegar, sugar, and starch slurry to create a sweet-sour sauce.
- When the sauce boils and thickens, dump in the hot fried pork.
- Toss flash-fast on high heat. Coat the meat perfectly before the batter gets soggy.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Perfect sweet-sourness of black vinegar and sugar、Scallion oil flavor
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Coat JP pork fillet thickly in potato starch and fry
Pairing
Jasmine Tea / Shaoxing Wine
Trivia
[Trivia] 'Zhua' means to grab by hand. Legend says an imperial chef hastily grabbed pork, coated it in starch by hand, and glazed it for Empress Dowager Cixi. She was so moved by the crispiness she named the dish.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Eat while piping hot. Because there are no vegetables, you purely enjoy the contrast between the rock-crispy batter and the tender fillet. The sweet-sour glaze isn't a junk-food flavor, but an extremely elegant taste built on the depth of black vinegar.
Allergen
Pork, Soybeans, Wheat