Fish-flavored Shredded Pork(鱼香肉丝, Yu Xiang Rou Si)
Fish-flavored Shredded Pork is a famous Sichuan dish known for its spicy, salty, savory, and sour flavors, along with a strong aroma of scallions, ginger, and garlic. Contrary to its name, the "fish-flavored" taste is achieved without using any fish; instead, it originated from a unique seasoning method for cooking fish in Sichuan cuisine, which has now been widely adopted in various Sichuan-style dishes.
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Fish-flavored Shredded Pork requires meticulous ingredient selection to achieve its characteristic red color and rich fish-flavored taste. It offers a delightful combination of salty-savory, sour, and spicy flavors, with the shredded pork boasting a tender and smooth texture. While this dish may appear complex, it's quite manageable to make at home with attention to a few key techniques.
First, ingredient selection is crucial:
Pork:
Choose pork tenderloin for its tender texture. When slicing the pork into strips, cut along the grain to prevent the strips from breaking apart.
Sichuan Pickled Chili Peppers:
Before cooking, finely chop the pickled chili peppers to ensure a vibrant red oil when stir-frying. You can purchase Sichuan pickled chili peppers at Asian food markets or certain specialty stores.
Bamboo Shoots:
After slicing the bamboo shoots, blanch them in boiling water for two minutes to remove oxalic acid. If you prefer a more convenient option, you can buy pre-packaged bamboo shoots. However, remember to wash away the white calcium deposits from the bamboo shoot core, eliminating the need for blanching.
Black Fungus:
Soak the black fungus in cold water. After soaking for 3-4 hours, the water slowly penetrates the fungus, causing it to become semi-transparent, indicating it's ready.
If you're short on time, you can use starch to expedite the soaking process:
Place the black fungus in a container, add warm (not hot) water—just enough to cover about 2/3 of the container, ensuring the dry fungus doesn't exceed one-third of the container's volume to allow room for expansion. Add 2 tablespoons of starch to the water, mix well, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Secondly, timing and heat are crucial:
Stir-frying Fish-flavored Shredded Pork requires high heat and quick cooking. The flame should be strong, and the wok should be adequately preheated to ensure the dish turns out flavorful.
Thirdly, proportions matter:
The finished dish of Fish-flavored Shredded Pork should have a glossy appearance from the oil but not appear soupy, so it's essential to balance the proportions of the sauce ingredients. Finely chop the ginger and garlic, and stir-fry them with the Sichuan pickled chili peppers until fragrant and crispy, releasing their pungent aroma without overwhelming spiciness.
In addition, when consuming:
Avoid combining pork with ume plum, licorice, crucian carp, shrimp, pigeon meat, river snails, almonds, donkey meat, lamb liver, coriander, buckwheat, quail meat, or beef.
Refrain from consuming large amounts of tea after eating pork.
Bamboo shoots should not be consumed with lamb liver.
Avoid consuming black fungus with river snails, wild chicken, or wild duck.
INGREDIENTS
MAIN INGREDIENTS
- 200 grams of pork tenderloin (about 7 ounces)
ACCESSORIES
- 60 grams of bamboo shoots (about 2.1 ounces)
- 30 grams of black fungus (soaked, then measured) (about 1.1 ounces)
- Half a small red carrot (approximately 1.7 ounces or 50 grams)
- 1 green chili pepper
SEASONINGS
- 15 grams of sichuan pickled chili peppers (about 0.5 ounces)
- 10 grams of minced ginger (about 0.35 ounces)
- 10 grams of minced garlic (about 0.35 ounces)
- 10 grams of chopped scallions (about 0.35 ounces)
- 30 grams of Pixian Doubanjiang (about 1.1 ounces)
- 4 grams of salt (about 0.14 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons of cooking wine (30 milliliters)
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (for marinating)
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce (15 milliliters)
- 2 tablespoons of white vinegar (30 milliliters)
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch (for preparing the fish-flavored sauce)
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of water
- Some cooking oil
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1
Slice the pork tenderloin into thin strips and place them in a bowl. Add 4 grams of salt, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, and 1 egg white to the bowl. Stir well in the same direction.
Tips:
When slicing the meat, cut along the grain to prevent the strips from breaking.
STEP 2
Next, add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and continue stirring in the same direction until well combined.
Tips:
Adding cornstarch helps to make the meat tender and smooth.
STEP 3
Finally, add a small amount of cooking oil, mix well, and marinate for 15 minutes to enhance the flavor of the meat.
STEP 4
During marination, prepare the pre-soaked black fungus, bamboo shoots, red carrots, green chili peppers by cutting them into thin strips. Also, chop the scallions, mince the ginger and garlic, and finely chop the Sichuan pickled chili peppers for later use.
Tips:
Traditional Fish-flavored Shredded Pork primarily includes black fungus and bamboo shoots. Adding red carrots and green chili peppers enriches the color and nutrition of the dish. If bamboo shoots are unavailable, they can be omitted or replaced with other ingredients.
STEP 5
In an empty bowl, add 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons of water. Mix well to prepare the fish-flavored sauce. Set aside.
Tips:
The fish-flavored sauce is the key element; with this proportion, you can also use it to make other dishes with fish-flavored sauce, such as fish-flavored eggplant or fish-flavored tofu. You can adjust the sauce according to your personal taste preferences.
STEP 6
Heat oil in a pan until it reaches about 40% of its maximum temperature. Add the marinated pork strips, spread them out to prevent sticking, and stir-fry until they change color.
STEP 7
Once the pork strips change color, add the black fungus strips, bamboo shoot strips, red carrot strips, and green chili pepper strips. Stir-fry for about 20 seconds until they are just cooked, then remove and drain excess oil.
Tips:
Stir-fry the assorted vegetables for about 20 seconds until they are just cooked but still crisp. There's no need to cook them for too long. Alternatively, you can choose not to stir-fry these vegetables and simply blanch the bamboo shoot strips in boiling water, then drain them.
STEP 8
In the remaining oil in the pan, add chopped scallions, minced ginger and garlic, and chopped Sichuan pickled chili peppers. Sauté until fragrant.
STEP 9
Then, add Pixian Doubanjiang and stir-fry until the oil turns red.
Tips:
Adding Doubanjiang here enhances the red oil. If you don't have Pixian Doubanjiang, you can omit it. Be cautious with salt since Doubanjiang is salty itself.
STEP 10
Add the quickly stir-fried pork strips and vegetables to the pan, and stir-fry rapidly to coat them with the red oil.
STEP 11
Pour in the pre-prepared fish-flavored sauce and stir-fry over high heat.
STEP 12
When the sauce is nearly reduced, add a small amount of cooking oil, stir-fry evenly, and then remove from the heat.
STEP 13
A classic Sichuan dish, fish-flavored shredded pork, with its delightful balance of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors along with a rich garlic aroma, is now ready!
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