Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork

Sweet and sour pork with vegetables
Alternative names	Gu lou juk, Gu lu rou
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Guangdong
Associated cuisine	Cantonese cuisine
Main ingredients	Pork, vegetables, pineapple, sweet and sour sauce
Variations	Subuta, Tangsuyuk, Guo bao rou
Media: Sweet and sour pork

Sweet and Sour Pork (Chinese: 咕嚕肉; pinyin: gūlūròu; Cantonese Yale: gū lōu yuhk) is a Cantonese and Chinese-American dish consisting of fried pork tenders with sweet and sour sauce.^[1] It is usually served with vegetables, and sometimes with pineapple. The dish originated from Cantonese cuisine in the 18th century. It became popular in the United States after Chinese immigrants came to the US to work on railroads in the early 20th century.^[2]

The Cantonese word gu lou (咕嚕) is an onomatopoeia meaning a gulping or swallowing sound. Juk (肉) means "meat". Together, gu lou juk means meat that makes people salivate or "gulp and swallow". In Mandarin, the word is pronounced gu lu rou, with the same meaning.

Another theory is that the name is derived from gu lao rou, which means "ancient meat", referring to the dish's long history.^[3]

This dish became popular because it fits the taste of foreigners living in Guangdong. Since Europeans and Americans contacted the Guangdong area first during the Qing Dynasty, the dish became popular among them. Moreover, the Guangdong people were the first ones to immigrate to the United States. As a result, as they began to open Cantonese restaurants, the dish became viral both in China and internationally.^[4]

According to Vice Media, the dish is often misunderstood to be "inauthentic, cheap, westernized" because it was developed to please western palates.^[1] Lucas Sin argues that "Chinese American food is authentic to a different type of immigrant experience, a different style of cooking...It’s an important segment of history".^[1]

The main ingredient is pork, cut into bite-sized chunks, then battered and fried and mixed with sweet and sour sauce. It is often served with bell pepper, onion, carrot, celery, spring onions, and pineapple.^[1]

In Japan, the dish is called subuta (酢豚 "vinegar pork"). In Korea, it's called tangsuyuk (탕수육 "sugar water meat" or "sugar vinegar meat").

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  Close-up
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  In Hong Kong
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  With spring rolls
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  Subuta, a Japanese variant
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  Tangsuyuk, a Korean variant

• Lychee pork