Subuta is a Japanese version of Sweet and Sour Pork, the famous Chinese dish in the US. Deep fried crispy pork coated in a thick sweet vinegary sauce is one of the most appealing Chinese foods for a lot of people. Japanese Sweet and Sour Pork, Subuta has much less batter around the meat, and therefore it is less fatty, and tangier sauce than the American counterpart. This seemingly complicated dish is easier to make at home than you might think.
Subuta is a very popular, staple dish on the menu at any Chinese restaurant in Japan. Also, it is something you make at home for dinner, just like other Chinese dishes like Gyoza and Mabo Tofu, and people don’t even consider Subuta to be an ethnic food. The hardest part of making Subuta is deep frying the meat, but it shouldn’t even be called hard here since we don’t use any thick batter, just potato starch. We deep fry vegetables too instead of stir frying, and that will shorten the cooking time. The pieces can get done really quickly, in a matter of a few seconds (wedged carrots may take 30 seconds or a little longer), so watch carefully.
Whether pineapple should be in Subuta is up to you. Some don’t like it, but often times it is in the dish. Enzymes in pineapple are supposed to help tenderize meat, but here the pineapple chunks are added at the end of cooking, so any effect is minimal. Still, as the sourness of the sauce goes well with sweet pineapple, it is a nice accent to it.
It’s true you can get Sweet and Sour Pork at Chinese restaurants almost anywhere, but our Japanese version is delicious too for wonderfully crisp pork in a not overly sweet tangy sauce. Make this Subuta at home, and you will enjoy a fresh taste of an old classic.
Subuta (Sweet and Sour Pork) Recipe
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Ingredients
- 10 oz pork (loin or any cut but not ground)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp Sake
- 1/4-1/2 brown onion
- 1/2-1 carrot
- 1/2-1 green pepper
- 1-2 rings canned pinenapples
- deep-frying oil
- potato starch
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp potato starch or corn starch
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Cut pork into 1 1/2″ (4 cm) squares. In a medium bowl, rub pork chunks, salt and Sake together. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Cut vegetables into wedges. Cut pineapples into bite size pieces.
- Heat deep-frying oil at medium heat. Deep-fry vegetables, not pineapples, for 15 to 30 seconds until mostly cooked through, one kind at a time. Coat pork lightly with potato starch. Deep-fry meat for a few minutes until golden brown. Set aside.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, and cook in a wok or frying-pan, When the sauce is bubbling and thickened, add cooked meat and vegetables. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add pineapple at the end. Serve immediately.
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