The first proper Chinese dish I tried to make here in Beijing was this sweet chilly pork stir fry (not very authentic to go and look for recipes from European sites, but as they say, old habits never die).
Not bad, considering it was my first try of deep-frying meat coated in batter. I’ll be making it again, but would add some salt the next time: although the chilly gives the dish a pretty spicy kick, I do think that the overall taste would only benefit from a tiny bit of salt.
Also, I got the feeling that there should have been more sauce (or at least a separate sauce accompanying the dish). What I would try next time is to deep-fry the meat a bit longer (so that the batter will not become ’soaked’ when transferred into a sauce) and double the sauce ingredients, also adding some water and corn-flour. Will let you know what comes out of it.

- 500ml vegetable oil, for deep frying
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 free-range egg, lightly whisked
- 250g pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized slices
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- a pinch of salt (recommended)
- Rice or noodles to serve
# Heat the vegetable oil in a deep saucepan, until very hot (if a breadcrumb sizzles in it, it is the right temperature).
# Make a batter by whisking the sesame oil, cornstarch and egg together (also add salt if you wish). Dip the pork in the batter to coat, then place into the hot oil to deep fry for about four minutes or until crisp and cooked through.

# Remove and drain on kitchen towels.

# Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the pepper, onions and chilli flakes and stir-fry for three minutes. Then add the soy sauce, honey and pork, and cook for one minute to warm through.
# Serve with some rice or noodles.I also prepared a vegetable dish from cauliflower and broccoli, stir-frying them in a hot wok-pan with some vegetable oil, and adding some water, corn starch, oyster sauce and sesame oil to taste.
The next day I tried another dish from Chinese kitchen, that of sticky lemon chicken. I really loved the look of this dish and I did enjoy its lemony flavor, but J thought it to be the worst dish ever, with way ‘too much lemon juice’.
Now, the lemons here in China must be with stronger taste or something, because on the BBC Goodfood web-site where the recipe is taken, most of the commentators complain about the ‘lack of lemony flavor’ and say that ‘next time I’ll add lots of more lemon juice’ or ‘I added extra lemon juice for some more zing’ etc…So I don’t know…Maybe J is just not into lemons. I remember him not enjoying the broccoli pasta with peppermint that had a lemony hint to it.
But I really liked it, I think it had a nice clean taste, it was healthy and it looked delicious. What more do you want from a supper??







water into the pan (the chicken rolls should be almost covered with the water) and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Add some water if necessary.