My understanding is that tang su yuk is normally a sweet-and-sour crispy pork dish. It is popular in Korean and, I believe, arose from a sort of fusion of Chinese and Korean cooking. I've never had tang su yuk before, although I have had American Chinese versions of sweet-and-sour pork. This particular version definitely isn't the most traditional, but it is tasty and easy so it's a winner in my book! I like that it gives you a way to turn a bag of dumplings into a meal. It still may not be the most nutritionally balanced, but it adds a few veggies and rounds it out a little bit.

Dumpling Tang Su Yuk

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 (500g) package frozen dumplings^1,2
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar³
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 150mL + 15mL (1 Tbsp.) water, divided
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium or large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 2-3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped/sliced
• 1/2 c. fresh or tinned pineapple, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. potato, tapioca, or cornstarch (cornflour)

Directions

1. Deep fry your dumplings. When starting with frozen dumplings, add the dumplings to the oil first and then start heating it. This allows the dumplings to heat and cook all the way through. If starting with fresh dumplings, heat up the oil first and then add the dumplings to the hot oil.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, and 150mL water in the pan and stirring to mix everything together.
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and pineapple (if using) and bring to a boil.
4. Mix the starch with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of water to make a slurry and stir the slurry into the sauce.
5. Cook until sauce reaches desired thickness.
6. Once dumplings are cooked, add them to the sauce.
7. Serve as is or over rice.

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¹ I know that "dumplings" can be a very broad term with a lot of variation. You could try this with a few different kinds of dumplings and see what works best. Personally, I recommend gyoza, 饺子 (jiao1zi), or "pot stickers" for this recipe, but I'm sure you could get delicious results with other kinds of dumplings as well. ^Back
2 You can easily keep this dish vegetarian by simply using vegetarian dumplings. ^Back
3 White vinegar is fine here, but I think cane vinegar or cider vinegar would be best if you have it. ^Back