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My mom’s friend makes the best sweet and sour pork. She calls it “ja yook” (fried meat) because every bite is pure, succulent protein with an ever-so-light crispy layer of batter. With some cooking tips from my mom’s friend, I tried recreating the dish. It turned out so good, I had to share it with you. I don’t have exact measurements, and I think if you follow the process and trust your taste buds, you can’t go wrong.

1. Marinate

Marinate 1” spare rib cubes with salt, pepper, minced garlic, coconut aminos (or sugar), soy sauce and oyster sauce. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Make Sweet and Sour Sauce

While the meat is marinating, make the sweet and sour sauce.

• Diced tomato, pineapple core, kosher salt and water goes into a pot to make a broth. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain to remove solids and keep only the liquid.
• Add lingonberry jam, ketchup, honey and vinegar. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Mix corn starch with cold water. Pour mixture into sauce and mix continuously.
• Let cook for about 5 minutes. If it’s too watery, add more corn starch slurry. If it’s too thick, add more water. Season to taste with salt.
• Add in pineapple chucks and heat through for 3 minutes.

3. Fry Spare Ribs

• Heat up vegetable oil. To test whether it’s hot enough, stick a wooden chopstick to the bottom of the pot. When bubbles form around the chopsticks, you can start frying.
• Coat marinated spareribs in potato starch, one by one.
• Fry spare ribs for 2 minutes on medium heat. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pot.
• Remove fried spare ribs and place on rack to cool for a minute.
• Fry spare ribs for another 2 minutes.
• Place on rack to cool for another minute.
• Cut the biggest piece open to see if it’s cooked through. If so, then it’s ready to serve. If not, you can fry for another minute or two.

4. Serve

The “traditional” way of serving this dish is to toss the fried pork with the sauce. I prefer to serve the two elements separately. This way, the pork stays crispy and people can control how much sauce to use.

Enjoy!