Beef and Lotus Root with Oyster Sauce
1 piece lotus root (about 2–3 inches)
½ pound beef
6 teaspoons oyster sauce, divided
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 slice ginger
Peel the lotus root. Cut into 6 thin rounds, about ¼ inch wide. Blanch the lotus root rounds briefly in boiling water.
Cut the beef in thin slices. Marinate in 2 teaspoons oyster sauce and the cornstarch for 30 minutes.
Combine 4 teaspoons oyster sauce, chicken broth, sugar, and sesame oil. Set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the beef. Stir-fry until it changes color and is nearly cooked through. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add 1 tablespoon oil. When oil is hot, add the ginger. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Add the lotus root. Stir-fry for 1–2 minutes. Add the sauce in the middle of the wok and bring to a boil. Add the beef. Cook for 1–2 more minutes, and serve hot.
7
Pork Entrées
Ants Climbing a Tree
Lion's Head Meatball Stew
Honey Roasted Pork
Curry Spareribs
Braised Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce
Sweet-and-Sour Spareribs
Five-Spice Spareribs
Deep-fried Garlic Spareribs
Pork with Young Bamboo Shoots
Basic Sweet-and-Sour Pork
Deep-fried Sweet-and-Sour Pork
Twice Cooked Pork
Pork in Plum Sauce
Pork in Bean Sauce
Restaurant-Style Mu Shu Pork
Traditional Mu Shu Pork
Pork Chop Suey
Spicy Hoisin Pork
Ham with Asian Pear
Chinese Sausage and Cabbage Stir-fry
Serves 4
For easier handling of the noodles, don't remove the string wrapping until the noodles have been soaked and drained.
Ants Climbing a Tree
4 ounces rice vermicelli noodles
4 Chinese dried mushrooms
1 bunch spinach leaves
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 slices ginger, finely chopped
½ pound ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
½ teaspoon sesame oil, divided
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chili sauce
¼ cup chicken broth or reserved mushroom liquid
2 green onions, chopped
Soak the noodles in hot water for 5 minutes or until they are softened. Cut the noodles into 2-inch lengths. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for at least 20 minutes to soften. Reserve the soaking liquid if desired. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut into thin slices.
Wash the spinach leaves. Blanch the spinach in boiling water briefly, just until the leaves begin to wilt. Drain well and chop finely.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the ginger and stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Add the ground pork. Mix in the soy sauce, rice wine, and ¼ teaspoon sesame oil. Stir-fry the ground pork until it loses its pink color. Remove from the wok and set aside.
Wipe the wok clean with a paper towel and add 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil is hot, add the spinach. Add the sugar and salt and stir-fry briefly, for less than a minute. Add the mushrooms. Push the spinach up to the sides of the wok and add the pork. Stir in the chili sauce, and then the noodles. Add the chicken broth or reserved mushroom liquid and continue to cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the green onions. Drizzle with ¼ teaspoon sesame oil and serve.
Lion's Head Meatball Stew
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, divided
2 bunches spinach leaves
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 cup chicken broth or stock
¼ teaspoon salt
White pepper to taste
Place the pork in a medium-sized bowl. Mix in the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon rice wine. Marinate the pork for 20 minutes.
Wash the spinach leaves. Blanch the spinach in boiling water briefly, just until the leaves begin to wilt. Drain thoroughly.
Form the marinated pork into 4 large meatballs, each roughly the size of a tennis ball. (Alternately, you can make the meatballs the size of golf balls, which will give you more meatballs.)
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. Pan-fry the meatballs on medium heat for 4–5 minutes on each side, until they brown. (The meatballs will not be cooked through.) Remove and drain on paper towels.
While the meatballs are frying, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bring the chicken broth or stock to a boil. Stir in the salt, white pepper, and 1 tablespoon rice wine. Remove from the heat.
Line the bottom of a casserole dish with the spinach leaves. Add the meatballs and pour the chicken stock mixture over. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
Intriguing Recipe Names
Like most cooking styles, Chinese cuisine has its share of intriguing recipe names. According to legend, Mapo Dofu, or “Pockmarked Tofu” (page 196), is named in honor of the elderly woman rumored to have invented the dish. In Ants Climbing a Tree, the tiny flecks of marinated pork are meant to resemble ants, while the fried noodles are the bark of the tree. This dish is also known as Ants Creeping up a Tree and Ants Climbing a Log.
Serves 2–4
Lion's Head Meatballs can be made in advance and frozen. Bring the meatballs back to room temperature before reheating.
Serves 4–6
Roasted pork makes a tasty addition to stir-fries and noodle dishes. For a quick and easy lunch, try roast pork sandwiches.
Honey Roasted Pork
1½ pound spareribs
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
Separate the pork into pieces about 2 by 6 inches. Combine the honey, hoisin sauce, dark soy sauce, and rice wine. Add to the pork ribs and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Drain the pork, reserving the marinade. Fill a shallow pan with boiling water and place at the bottom of the oven. Place the pork on a roasting rack, cover with half the reserved marinade and roast the pork for 15 minutes. Brush the pork with the remaining marinade and roast for another 15 minutes, or until the pork turns golden brown and is cooked. Cool.
Serves 2–4
Commonly associated with Southeast Asian cooking, spicy curry is also featured in southern Chinese dishes.
Curry Spareribs
1 pound pork ribs
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons curry paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2–4 cups oil for deep-frying
Cut the ribs into bite-sized pieces. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, curry paste, turmeric, and chopped garlic. Marinate the ribs for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in the wok to 350°F. When oil is hot, deep-fry the spareribs until they turn a deep brown and rise to the surface.
Braised Spareribs in Black Bean Sauce
1–1½ pounds spareribs
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
1 garlic clove, minced
2 green onions
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ teaspoons sugar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
Wash the spareribs, pat dry, and separate. Mash the black beans with the back edge of a knife or cleaver. Mix with the garlic and a bit of water. Cut the green onions into 1-inch pieces.
Combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and water.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. Stir-fry the pork for 2–3 minutes. Add the fermented bean and garlic mixture and stir-fry until aromatic.
Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the spareribs are cooked. Stir in the green onions or serve as a garnish.
Fermented Black Beans
These are not the dried black beans that enliven many Mexican dishes. Instead, fermented black beans (also called salted black beans) are made with black soybeans that have been fermented in salt, garlic, and a number of spices. Fermented black beans are sold in cans and plastic bags in Asian markets. In a pinch, black bean sauce can be used as a substitute, but the dish won't have the same flavor.
Serves 2–4
Savory fermented black beans nicely complement the delicate sweet flavor of pork in this recipe.
Serves 2–4
This recipe can easily be doubled to serve as a main dish for 4 to 6 people.
Sweet-and-Sour Spareribs
1½ pounds spareribs
4 teaspoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, divided
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
Wash spareribs and pat dry. Separate into serving-sized pieces. Marinate the ribs in 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar for 30 minutes.
Mix together 3 teaspoons sugar, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce, and set aside.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the ribs and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, until they brown.
Add the sauce, turn down the heat, cover, and simmer the ribs for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Serves 2–4
These spicy ribs nicely complement a less highly seasoned dish such as Three Vegetable Stir-fry (page 250).
Five-Spice Spareribs
1½ pounds spareribs
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Hot Chili Oil (page 23)
½ teaspoon Szechwan Salt and Pepper Mix (page 20)
½ teaspoon five-spice powder, or to taste
2 tablespoons water
Mix together all the ingredients except for the spareribs. Marinate the spareribs for 30 minutes. Reserve the marinade.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush half of the reserved marinade on the spareribs and roast for 15 minutes. Brush on the rest of marinade and roast the spareribs for another 15 minutes or until they are cooked.
Deep-fried Garlic Spareribs
2 pounds spareribs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs
1 cup flour
4–6 cups oil for deep-frying
Cut the ribs into bite-sized pieces.
Combine the brown sugar, water, soy sauce, mustard, and garlic cloves. Add to the ribs and marinate for 1 hour.
Lightly beat the eggs and add to the flour to make a batter, adding water or more flour as needed. Use a wooden spoon to test the batter — it should drop slowly and be able to coat the back of the spoon.
Add the oil to a wok and heat to 350°F. While waiting for the oil to heat, coat the ribs in the batter. When oil is hot, carefully add the spareribs into the wok. Deep-fry in batches for about 5 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Raise the oil temperature to 400°F. Deep-fry the ribs briefly a second time, until they turn brown. Remove and drain.
Recycled Deep-frying Oil
Start deep-frying regularly, and you'll quickly find your stock of vegetable oil running low. Fortunately, deep-frying oil can be reused up to 5 times. To save the oil, simply cool and store in a sealed container. Discard the oil when it starts to smell bad, changes color, or smokes at lower temperatures.
Serves 4–6
Deep-frying the spareribs twice gives them a crispy coating and seals in the juicy flavors.
Serves 2–4
Due to their strong flavor, young bamboo shoots are considered to be a great delicacy in China.
Pork with Young Bamboo Shoots
½ pound pork tenderloin
3 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, divided
½ teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
8 ounces canned or fresh peeled young bamboo shoots
½ cup chicken stock or broth
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
Cut the pork into thin slices. Add 2 teaspoons of the rice wine, the sugar, and the cornstarch. Marinate the pork for 30 minutes.
Blanch the bamboo shoots in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and chop.
Combine the chicken stock, 1 teaspoon rice wine, and the rice vinegar, and set aside.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the pork and stir-fry until it changes color and is nearly cooked. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok. Add the bamboo shoots and stir-fry. Add the sauce in the middle of the wok and bring to a boil. Add the pork. Turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Why Waste a Wok?
Don't hide your wok in the cupboard when you're not cooking Chinese food. A wok's unusual shape makes it useful for everything from mixing batter to tossing a salad. And nothing beats a wok for turning out scrambled eggs and omelets that don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Basic Sweet-and-Sour Pork
1 pound pork loin, center cut, bone in
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
cup canned pineapple chunks
½ cup reserved pineapple juice
½ red bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
¼ pound baby carrots
cup rice vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water
Cut away the bone from the pork and remove any fat. Cut the pork into cubes. Add the soy sauce, cornstarch, and baking soda to the pork. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for 1½ hours.
Open a can of pineapple chunks and remove cup pineapple and ½ cup juice. Blanch the peppers and carrots by plunging briefly into boiling water. Remove the seeds from the green and red peppers, and cut into cubes. Cut the carrots in half.
Bring the rice vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, reserved pineapple juice, and water to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and keep warm.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the pork. Stir-fry until it changes color and is nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok and drain on paper towels.
Add 1 tablespoon oil. When oil is hot, add the carrots. Stir-fry for a minute and add the red and green peppers.
Bring the sauce back up to a boil. Add the cornstarch-and-water mixture, stirring vigorously to thicken. Mix the pineapple in with the sauce. Push the vegetables up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Add the pork back into the wok. Mix through and serve hot.
S
erves 2–4
For extra flavor, use 2 tablespoons black rice vinegar and ¼ cup white rice vinegar when making the sauce.
Serves 2–4
This is one of the most popular dishes served at Chinese restaurants. The sweet-and-sour sauce works well with pork, spareribs, and chicken.
Deep-fried Sweet-and-Sour Pork
1 pound pork loin, center cut, deboned and cubed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ red bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
¼ pound baby carrots
3 tablespoons flour
2 medium eggs
cup rice vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup reserved pineapple juice
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water
4–6 cups oil for frying
cup canned pineapple chunks
Take the pork cubes and add the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and baking soda. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1½ hours.
Blanch the peppers and carrots in boiling water. Deseed and cube the green and red pepper. Cut the carrots in half.
Combine the flour, cornstarch, and eggs into a batter. Coat the pork in the batter. Add 4–5 cups oil to the wok and heat to at least 350°F. Deep-fry the pork cubes in batches, turning occasionally, until they turn golden. Remove and drain on paper towels.
THE EVERYTHING® CHINESE COOKBOOK Page 13