Honey Pork Loin with Onion rings

When I posted 'Prawn fritters' recently, Angie of Angie's Recipes asked whether the batter is suitable for making onion rings.  That's food for thought.  I do remember that the 'Onion Chicken' dishes served in the restaurants, the onion rings had a bit of sweet fragrance.  I experimented and was pleased that I managed to come up with this recipe for onion rings ..... well, at least these rings stayed crispy for some time, quite close to those that I had tasted.

I relied on the theory to check that the batter is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

After dipping the onion rings in the batter, use a pair of long chopsticks to lower them into the oil, one @ a time.

I only used 2 pieces of pork loin for the pictures although I managed to slice up 8 pieces.

The onion rings were crispy while the honey adds flavour to the soft and tender meat......... yummy!

Recipe for Honey pork loin with Onion rings

Ingredients

• 400 gm pork loin, sliced to about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 medium size onions, sliced into rings
• Oil for frying and deep-frying

Marinade for pork

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornflour
• Dash of pepper

Batter for onion rings

• 3 level Tbsp plain flour
• 3 level Tbsp rice flour
• 1.1/2 level Tbsp custard powder
• 60 to 70 ml water
• a pinch of salt

Sauce

• 1/3 cup water
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water for thickening
• a pinch of salt

Preparation

1. Wash and slice up the pork loin, tenderise with a meat hammer.
2. Marinate with the above marinade for a few hours, preferably overnight.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the batter by mixing up the flours, custard powder, salt, thoroughly.  Gradually add in water to mix into a smooth batter, check the consistency of the batter.  Let batter rest for 30  mins.
4. Heat up a pan with some oil and pan fry the meat, turning from side to side till thoroughly cooked.  Dish out and place on kitchen absorbent paper to absorb any excess oil.  Set aside.
5. Boil 1/3 cup water in a saucepan, add in the honey, brown sugar, salt, mix well.
6. Add in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce.  Fine tune the sweetness and consistency of the sauce to your desired level.  Set aside.
7. Now, heat up enough oil in a wok to deep-fry the onion rings.  If droplets of batter sizzle in the oil, means the oil is ready.  Lower to medium heat.
8. Dip an onion ring into the batter, lower it into the oil with a pair of long chopsticks.  Flip over for thorough browning.  Continue doing this, one onion ring @ a time.  Dish out and drain on kitchen abosorbent paper to absorb the oil.
9. Warm up the honey sauce and pour over the meat slices, garnish with the freshly fried onion rings.
10. Serve immediately.