Gu Lou Yuk (Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork)
Bite-size pork shoulder marinated with soy and egg, dry-coated in flour and cornstarch and fried twice until crunchy, then tossed in a glossy ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar sauce with a few peppers, onion and pineapple.
Sweet and sour pork is a Cantonese dish, and even its name is argued over. Wikipedia says the Cantonese gu lou is usually read as the sound of gulping, and gives a second theory that the name means "ancient meat," for the dish's long history. Made With Lau, the family channel where Randy Lau films his father, a Cantonese restaurant chef with more than 60 years at the stove, gives both stories too: "ancient pork," or the gulping sound people make eating it. Wikipedia says the sauce was historically made from Chinese red vinegar, often from hawthorn berries, and brown sugar, and that Western versions grew thicker and redder, with more sugar, ketchup and pineapple.
Made With Lau's version is the one a Cantonese chef cooks: pork shoulder in a dry coating, two trips through the oil and only a handful of peppers, onion and pineapple, all of which the recipe calls optional. Ketchup is in it, and Made With Lau defends it: their history notes say Chinese chefs began using imported tomato ketchup in sweet and sour dishes in the 1900s. Daddy Lau, by his son's estimate, has made the dish thousands of times.
🇨🇳 The original
Bite-size pork shoulder marinated with soy and egg, dry-coated in flour and cornstarch and fried twice until crunchy, then tossed in a glossy ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar sauce with a few peppers, onion and pineapple.
🇺🇸 The American version
American takeouts switched to battered chicken and a bright red, ketchup-sweet sauce with pineapple and bell peppers. See the Takeout Sweet and Sour Chicken with Pineapple and Peppers recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Two fries
The first, cooler fry cooks the pork through; the second, hotter fry drives water out of the coating so it stays crisp under the sauce, which is why Made With Lau calls skipping it the top mistake.
A dry coat on a wet marinade
The egg makes the flour cling, and pressing each piece into cornstarch builds a thin, craggy shell instead of a thick batter.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cut the pork into a few pieces along the grain, then slice across the grain into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces. Massage with the garlic salt and soy sauce for 1 minute, add the egg and massage 30 seconds more. Let it marinate about 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.
- Step 2
Cut the peppers and onions into small triangles and the pineapple into bite-size pieces. Stir the sauce ingredients together for 45 to 60 seconds, until smooth.
- Step 3
Add the flour to the pork and massage 1 to 2 minutes, adding a few drops of water if needed, until evenly coated. Roll each piece in the cornstarch on a plate, squeezing it so the coating sticks.
- Step 4
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat to 300°F to 350°F. Add the pork, squeezing each piece as it goes in, and leave it alone 1 to 2 minutes so the coating sets. Fry 7 to 8 minutes in total, until browning and crisp, and check that the center of a thick piece reads 145°F. Lift it out and let it rest 3 minutes.
- Step 5
Heat the oil to 400°F and fry the pork again 1 to 2 minutes, until deep golden and crunchy. Drain it, then pour the oil into a heatproof container to cool.
- Step 6
Return the wok to high heat, stir-fry the peppers and onions 30 seconds, add the pineapple for 30 seconds more and take them out.
- Step 7
Add 1 tsp oil and the sauce and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until it boils and thickens. Return the pork, vegetables and pineapple and toss 1 to 2 minutes, until glazed. Serve right away, while it crunches.
Gu Lou Yuk (Cantonese Sweet and Sour Pork)
Serves 3 · 1 platter · 45 min total
Pork and marinade
- 10 oz pork shoulder (pork butt)
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch, for coating
Sauce
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp water
Vegetables and frying (vegetables optional)
- 1 oz each red, yellow and green bell pepper
- 1 oz each red onion and yellow onion
- 4 oz fresh pineapple
- About 1/2 lb (1 cup) corn oil, for frying, plus 1 tsp for the sauce
Method
- Cut the pork into a few pieces along the grain, then slice across the grain into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces. Massage with the garlic salt and soy sauce for 1 minute, add the egg and massage 30 seconds more. Let it marinate about 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.
- Cut the peppers and onions into small triangles and the pineapple into bite-size pieces. Stir the sauce ingredients together for 45 to 60 seconds, until smooth.
- Add the flour to the pork and massage 1 to 2 minutes, adding a few drops of water if needed, until evenly coated. Roll each piece in the cornstarch on a plate, squeezing it so the coating sticks.
- Heat the oil in a wok over high heat to 300°F to 350°F. Add the pork, squeezing each piece as it goes in, and leave it alone 1 to 2 minutes so the coating sets. Fry 7 to 8 minutes in total, until browning and crisp, and check that the center of a thick piece reads 145°F. Lift it out and let it rest 3 minutes.
- Heat the oil to 400°F and fry the pork again 1 to 2 minutes, until deep golden and crunchy. Drain it, then pour the oil into a heatproof container to cool.
- Return the wok to high heat, stir-fry the peppers and onions 30 seconds, add the pineapple for 30 seconds more and take them out.
- Add 1 tsp oil and the sauce and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until it boils and thickens. Return the pork, vegetables and pineapple and toss 1 to 2 minutes, until glazed. Serve right away, while it crunches.
Adapted from Made With Lau (Daddy Lau and Randy Lau), "Sweet and Sour Pork" (published May 2021, updated October 2026), serves 3. We follow it as written: 10 oz pork shoulder butt; a marinade of garlic salt, light soy sauce and half an egg; 2 tbsp flour massaged in, then a cornstarch coat; 1 oz each of three bell peppers and two onions and 4 oz pineapple; a sauce of 4 tbsp ketchup, 4 tbsp brown sugar, 3 tbsp vinegar, cornstarch, salt and water; a first fry at 300°F to 350°F for 7 to 8 minutes and a second at 400°F for 1 to 2 minutes; then 30 seconds each for the vegetables and pineapple and 1 to 2 minutes for the sauce. Made With Lau says to add "some corn oil" for the sauce; the 1 tsp, the marinating time and the 145°F check are ours. Made With Lau. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use a fatty cut: Made With Lau says restaurants use pork butt or shoulder, that pork belly tastes best but is greasiest, and to avoid lean cuts like pork chops.
- Want takeout red? Made With Lau says restaurants often add a drop of red food coloring to the sauce.
- Eat it at once; the crust starts softening as soon as it meets the sauce.
- Swap in chicken or firm tofu, Made With Lau suggests; dark meat holds up best.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Gu lou means "ancient meat." Disputed: Made With Lau translates it roughly as "ancient pork"; Wikipedia says it is usually read as a gulping sound and calls "ancient meat" another theory.
- Ketchup is an American corruption. Disputed: Wikipedia says the historic sauce was red vinegar from hawthorn and brown sugar and that Western versions use more ketchup; Made With Lau says Chinese chefs began using imported ketchup in the 1900s and uses it in its Cantonese version.
- Pineapple belongs in it. Folklore: Made With Lau lists it as optional; Wikipedia says pineapple is more common in Western versions.
- It dates to the 18th century. Disputed: Wikipedia says so but gives no clear source for the date.
- You must fry it twice. Documented as Made With Lau's method.
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