Jack Chew's Sweet and Sour Pork

 Jack Chew opened a restaurant in the triangle in Roswell, New Mexico, where Southeast Main and South Main Streets meet. He sold that restaurant in 1978. Later, he opened a new restaurant at Sycamore and West 2nd Street. The restaurants were named Chew's Den and Chew's Town and Country Restaurant.

Jack Chew was born in Canton, China. At age eleven he immigrated to the United States with his family. His father ran restaurants in Albuquerque in the 1930s. Jack graduated from High School in 1939 and worked for his father until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Jack enlisted into the Army Air Corp and served as a tailgunner on B-17 bombers in Europe. His plane was shot down during a raid over Schweinfurt, Germany. The crew was forced to bail out at thirty-five thousand feet. Jack was a prisoner of war in Stalag 17-B near Munich where he was imprisoned twenty-one months before George Patton's 3rd Army liberated the camp. After liberation Jack served at Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico.

He opened his first restaurant in 1946, the first Chinese restaurant in Roswell. A year later Jack returned to China to bring home his future wife--an arranged marriage between the two families. Jack and Suzzie were happily wed the remainder of their lives. Shortly after their marriage they opened Chew Den.

Jack Chew died in 2020 at the age of ninety-nine.

Jack Chew's Sweet and Sour Pork is unique for its used of sweet pickles.

Sweet and Sour Pork

1 1/2 lb. boneless pork cut into bite sized pieces

Mix:

2 c flour
2 t. salt
1 t. white pepper

Combine in separate bowl:

2 eggs
2 c. milk

Roll pork in flour mixture, shake off excess , then dip in milk mixture. Drain, then return pork pieces to flour mixture, coat well. Shake off excess. Fry pork in oil until the crust is brown and crisp. Drain and place on plate. Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Mix in saucepan:

1/2 c. cider vinegar
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar

Bring to boil.

Add:

1 c. sweet pickles (may use half & half pickles and pineapple chunks)

In separate, small bowl combine:

1/3 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. cold water

Add to pickle mixture and cook until clear and thick. If too thick, add small amount of water.