heywood on 22/10/2015 at 22:53
I'll start with a recipe for my favorite dish as of late. The dish is Sichuan Twice Cooked Pork and it's one of the most famous Sichuan dishes. I've made it probably 15 times now, initially following some different recipes I found on line before I settled on my own variation. The key ingredient is pork belly, which is the same cut of pork that American bacon is made from, but unlike bacon it is not cured and smoked. The pork belly is cooked once in simmering water or steam, then chilled until it firms up, sliced into thin pieces and then stir fried with some vegetables and a mix of three different bean pastes/sauces which are staples of Sichuan cooking. The result is thin strips of chewy deliciousness. The next time I make it, I'll take pictures and update this post. For now, here are some stock photos which aren't entirely representative of this recipe but give you the idea:
Inline Image:
http://www.seriouseats.com/assets_c/2012/06/20120615-chichis-chinese-pork-belly-dish-primary-thumb-625xauto-249706.jpgInline Image:
http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/twice-cooked-pork-6th.jpgThis recipe can be a bit of a project the first time you make it, mainly because of the two cooking phases with require cooling in between, but you can let the meat sit in the refrigerator for a day or two between phases so you don't have to do all the work at once.
Here are the ingredients; you'll likely need to visit an Asian grocer for some of it:
[INDENT]One package of approx 1.5 lbs. or 600g of uncured pork belly with skin on and bones removed (or boneless). Usually the belly is sliced crosswise into pieces 2-3 cm wide, and there are 2-4 pieces in a 600g package depending on the thickness of the belly. This will make 2-4 servings depending on portion size.
2 Large green onions. Not the regular sized green onions that are otherwise known as scallions. If you can't find large green onions, try leeks, a small one should be enough. They won't have quite the same flavor but will yield the right sized slices and have the same color.
A few medium size red chilies, e.g. Fresno or Mirasol, or a small handful of red Thai birdseye chilies, or similar. The reason for using red chilies is to add a nice color to the presentation, but they also add a bit of flavor and heat. You can decide how much heat by choosing which variety and whether to remove the veins. If you use Fresno and remove the veins, there is no heat. If you can find red Thai birdseyes, they will add a lot of heat. The ones I usually use are roughly finger-sized and medium heat.
For the sauce:
* 2-3 TBsp Chili bean paste, aka douban jiang (豆瓣酱)
* 1 TBsp Plum sauce. Or substitute red sweet bean paste, aka tian mian jiang (甜面酱). Using tian mian jiang is more traditional but I like the tangy taste of the plum sauce a little better.
* 1 TBsp Chinese fermented black bean paste (豆豉醬). If you're having trouble finding this in the store, fermented black beans are also called Douchi. If you find that, it can be mashed into a paste. And a Korean version of this paste is called Chunjang.
Optional items for the boiling phase. These add some extra complexity to flavor of the meat but are not essential:
* 1 TBsp of ground or shredded Ginger
* A handful of small dried Chinese chilies, stems removed and seeds poured out
* A couple teaspoons of ground or whole sichuan peppercorns
White rice, enough to make 2-4 servings. You can either make white sticky rice, or optionally you can make fried rice using the rendered pork fat and pan drippings at the end after stir drying. If you're making sticky rice, short grain works best. If you've never made sticky rice before, you might want to buy microwave-ready bowls of sticky rice, because it can take a little trial and error to get the right amount of water the first time you make it. For fried rice, long grain works best.
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Preparation:
[INDENT]Fill a large pot with just enough water to cover the pork belly. Add the optional ingredients (ginger, chillies, Sichuan peppercorns) if you have them. Bring the water to a boil. Add the pork belly. Turn the heat down to maintain a mild simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. If you added flavoring ingredients to the cooking water, it's best to let the pot cool enough to handle and then put it in the refrigerator to let the meat cool in the liquid. If you didn't add anything to the water, then you can remove the pieces from the water and put them in the fridge on a plate for faster cooling. They take about an hour or so to chill on a plate or 2 hours in water.
While the meat is cooling, slice the vegetables. The large green onions should be sliced diagonally on a steep angle to yield thin slices about 4-5 cm in length. You should end up with a medium bowl full. The best part of the onion to use is the middle part, consisting of the upper part of the stalk and lower part of the leaves. If you have enough, discard the really soft parts towards the ends of the leaves and the whitest, densest part near the root. If using leeks, you need a little less than a bowl full because the leeks don't lose as much volume in cooking as the onions.
Remove the seeds from the red chilies, and the veins too if you don't want too much heat. Slice the chilies diagonally, similar to the onions, so you end up with long thin slices.
Now make the sauce. If this is your first time you'll want tune the sauce mix by taste. The main ingredient is the chili bean paste, start with 2 TBsp of it and 1 TBsp each of the black bean paste and plum sauce or sweet bean paste. Mix and taste, then adjust quantities until the flavor is balanced. It should taste moderately hot, but it will be mellower once cooked into the meat, and a little bit salty, a little bit sweet, a little bit tangy (if you're using plum sauce). When the mixture is right it should trigger a wide array of taste buds without any particular flavor dominating. Note the black bean paste is the saltiest ingredient. So if the initial mix is too salty then add more of the others.
Now is the best time to make the rice. Once it's fully cooked and fluffed, seal it in a container so it doesn't dry out and set it aside.
Check on the pork. You want the pork to be cool enough to remain firm when you cut it. Once sufficiently chilled, take out the pork pieces and pat dry. With a sharp knife, slice the pork across the grain into strips about 1/8" or 3mm thick. Slicing cross-wise gives you a bit of each layer of the belly in each piece.
It's finally time to stir fry. If you have a gas stove and a steel wok, great. If not, use a skillet. For this dish, don't bother trying to use a wok on an electric range or an electric wok because the hot surface that the meat cooks on is too small. If you have a 10" skillet or small wok, you'll probably need to cook in two batches. If you have a 12" skillet or large wok, you can do it all in one batch.
Heat the skillet on a medium or medium-high setting. Once hot, add the pork (or half of it if it doesn't all fit). Spread the pork around and let it cook, flipping the pieces over once a minute or so, until they are lightly browned and curling. The fat will render out while cooking. If you want the meat to be tender and chewy with a bit of crispness, keep the heat on the high side so they brown up faster. This tends to give the best mouth texture but retains more fat. If you're worried about eating a lot of fat, you can cook at a lower temperature so the fat has more time to render out before it browns too much. Cooking time can range from as little as 2 minutes to 5+ minutes depending on the heat setting, skillet, and size of the portion. Once the meat is done, pour off all the rendered fat, and save it if you're going to fry the rice.
Return the skillet to the stove with the meat. Add the sauce and stir until the meat is uniformly coated and most of the sauce has been absorbed, maybe 30 sec. Then toss in the vegetables and stir well to mix everything, another 30 sec or so. Remove to a serving bowl and cover. Repeat for the second batch, if necessary.
If you're making fried rice, then at this point add a few tablespoons of the rendered pork fat back into the pan and then add the rice and stir fry that until the rice is lightly browned.
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Enjoy. If you like Sichuan food, you might also check out this recipe for authentic Kung Pao chicken:
(
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/06/real-deal-kung-pao-chicken-recipe.html) http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/06/real-deal-kung-pao-chicken-recipe.html
I've made that dish several times and my recipe is very similar to Kenji's, so I won't bother to post it all. I think his version is better than what you get in 95% of Chinese restaurants.
I'm also working on Chongqing chicken, Dan Dan noodles, and twice cooked fish. Although I'm not entirely satisfied with my results yet.
