Korean-Chinese Food, Part 2: 탕수육

Read part 1 here...

Onward with my (very belated) postings about Korean-Chinese food!

탕수육 is pronounced "tang-soo-yeok" and usually Romanized to tangsuyuk. It's essentially sweet-and-sour pork. (Also spelled tangsuyuk, tangsuyeok, tangsooyuk, etc.)

Back in the day when I was a kid, the sweet-and-sour sauce was a bright, unnatural red. Around the time I was in junior high school, it became a more natural color (I guess beige/caramel/honey is more natural than nuclear red!). I kind of miss the obnoxious bright red color, but the rest of the dish is the same. I actually never thought there was a difference in taste between the sauces, and still don't know why all of the restaurants I ever went to suddenly changed colors at the same time.

I think tangsuyeok is one of the easiest dishes to make, provided that you have good knife skills and don't mind deep-frying. Because I absolutely abhor deep-frying in my own house (have you ever tried it?? Oil ends up splattered EVERYWHERE!), I will never be making this at home. I like the comfort and cleanliness of eating it in a restaurant, thank you.













I've found that lately, at a few of the restaurants around my parents' house (in Cerritos, heavily populated with Asians), they ask what kind of meat I'd prefer. It used to always be pork, without question, but can now be made with beef, as well. I'm sure you could ask if they can take a chicken or a goat or a lamb and do it ... but Asian restaurants are usually all about the beef and pork.

Because I grew up with the pork, I like pork tangsuyeok best. It's quite funny, because I've been noticing that deep-fried pork gets really dry. I guess that's why the meat is smothered in a heavy sauce! The meat being dry is completely besides the point, because all you taste is the overwhelming sweetness and sourness of the sauce, with the additional crunch of the deep-fried crust.

Unlike in American-Chinese restaurants (ahem, Panda Express), sweet-and-sour pork in a Korean-Chinese restaurant always (ALWAYS) has a crispy, light, cornstarch-y exterior. The sauce is dosed on top just before serving, ensuring that the pork remains crunchy. If you ever order tangsuyeok in or pick it up to carry out, you'll receive two containers- one with the fried pork and one with the sauce.

I digress.

Since I like the pork, I'm talking only about the pork. The pork should be lean and cut into relatively thin strips (I like the pork kind of in sheets, rather than in sticks, if that makes sense- more 2D than 3D).
The batter is quite simple- cornstarch! I know that some people like to use the Western breading method: (1) flour (2) egg (3) cornstarch. I believe most Asians cut up the pork, throw it in a bowl, add beaten egg and seasonings, then dip the meat into the cornstarch before frying. Either way will work, though I'm biased towards the easier (2 bowls rather than 4- I hate washing dishes) method and it seems to yield pork with a lighter, crispier coat.

Any way you do it, the pork should be coated with cornstarch somehow and then deep-fried to oblivion. I metioned the dry interior- this is not a dish with which to savor delicate pork flavor! Once the pork is fried, make the sauce.

Most restaurants serve the sauce with vegetables inside. (I personally hate mushrooms, but I know lots of people love them and they are traditional in tangsuyeok sauce. They don't ever make it onto my plate, so I'm not going to include them here).

Bring up to a boil some soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. While it's coming up to a boil, deal with the rest of the sauce- the veggies and the cornstarch slurry. Vegetables (I'm used to cabbage, carrots, onion, and cucumber) should be stir-fried briefly. Obviously, add them in order of their cooking time- carrots and onion first, then cabbage, then cucumber for just a minute or even less. The cornstarch slurry is used to thicken the sauce (as in the jjajangmyeon) and help it not to separate (keep it congealed ... which sounds so gross, but it's true!). A cornstarch slurry is just water and cornstarch. I like adding as little water as possible so it won't affect the viscosity of the sauce too much.

Combine the sauce and the slurry together and stir. The sauce should thicken up and become slightly less glossy, and it should happen really quickly. Once that's done, deep-fry the pork once more (twice-fried pork means a super crackly coating that can withstand being drowned in the sauce for a little while).

Add the vegetables to the sauce, stir to combine. Plate the pork, pour the sauce over it, and that's it!

As with any stir-fry or deep-fry, having all the ingredients prepared and waiting will make everything much faster. Usually, the amount of time that a flame will need to be used for this dish is about ... 10 minutes? Maybe even less if you're a pro!

It is, in truth, so much easier just to order it. I did mention my hatred of oil splatters, right?

I've been meaning to be a good blogger, but it seems that there are always reasons for me not to be. I need to learn to fight harder for what I want and make time for the things I want to do!