Chinese Takeout made at home: Sweet and Sour Pork
In upstate New York, almost all Chinese takeout places are currently closed. A local paper surveyed them* and found that most were unable to get standard ingredients, like egg roll wrappers, that are shipped from the NYC area. Hopefully that will change soon, but in the meantime we can make many Chinese-style dishes at home.
Sweet and sour pork is an example. Most of the ingredients are already in your kitchen or available in your local supermarket, even in times of short supply. (If you can’t find rice vinegar, use white or cider vinegar.) Follow our recipe and you’ll end up with a product that is likely better than the takeout dish you’re used to. And, by the way, a little research suggests that while sweet and sour pork is American in origin, it was created by Cantonese in California who were attempting to duplicate a favorite dish from home.
Orchid Noodles after Barbara Tropp–made with Manischewitz Fine Egg Noodles were on sale for the holiday
If you want to get a bit more ambitious—with the ingredients, not the preparation—try Orchid’s Chinese-Style Cold Noodles. This easy cold dish was a potluck favorite, back when we had potlucks. You do need toasted sesame oil, but that’s a common enough ingredient that you should still be able to find it in your local store if you don’t already have a bottle. The rest of the ingredients can be hacked with standard American products though I would really urge you to make the effort to order Chinkiang vinegar from Amazon and wait the few days until it arrives. It’s full of deep flavor, unlike the standard black vinegar you see in Asian markets that’s darkened with molasses.
Try “Chinese” in the search box to find a few more Chinese takeout recipes you can make at home.
*The link will take you not to the article in the Daily Gazette, which has a firewall, but to a blog piece in the Albany Times Union which cites the Gazette piece and adds some interpretation. Read the unfortunate comments (you have to scroll way down past the ads) and you’ll feel some extra globalist pride in making these dishes, in the same way we were going out of our way to eat at Chinese restaurants a few weeks ago.
