← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 350 g pork tenderloin or loin, cut into matchsticks
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 3 tbsp Water
• 8 g dried wood ear mushrooms
• 1 small carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 green pepper (or 100 g bamboo shoots), cut into matchsticks
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Pixian doubanjiang (or Sichuan pickled chillies, chopped)
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Ginger, finely chopped
• 3 Spring onion, chopped, whites and greens kept apart

Method

1. Soak the wood ear in warm water for 20 min, until soft. Trim off any hard bits and slice into thin strips.
2. Mix the pork with the soy sauce, salt and cornflour. Stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Add the pork, spread it out and stir-fry for 1–2 min, just until it turns pale all over. Tip it onto a plate.
4. Lower the heat to medium, add the rest of the oil and the doubanjiang, and fry for 30 seconds until the oil turns red. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and stir until fragrant.
5. Turn the heat up, add the carrot, pepper and wood ear and stir-fry for 1–2 min, until just tender-crisp.
6. Return the pork, stir the sauce and pour it in. Toss for 30 seconds until glossy and the pork is cooked through, then add the spring onion greens and serve.

Tips

• “Fish-fragrant” is the seasoning Sichuan cooks once used for fish: pickled chilli, garlic, ginger, sugar and vinegar.
• The same sauce works with shredded chicken breast or aubergine.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Taste of Asian Food Omnivore's Cookbook