Boiled Sliced Pork in Chili Sauce (Ningde Style)

Boiled Sliced Pork in Chili Sauce (Ningde Style)

　　· 250g lean pork (or beef)

　　· 200g Chinese cabbage (or other seasonal vegetables, such as asparagus lettuce)

　　· 50g Pixian bean paste (3 tbsp)

　　· 25g cooking wine (1.5 tbsp)

　　· 25g starch (1.5 tbsp)

　　· 2g salt (about ½ tsp)

　　· a small amount of chicken bouillon

　　· 10g dried chili peppers

　　· 20 Sichuan peppercorns

　　· an appropriate amount of scallions

　　· 400g meat broth

　　· 100g oil

　　· 3g soy sauce (1 tsp)

　　· 5g sugar (1 tsp)

　　· 4 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)

　　· 5g ginger (minced)

　　Directions: 1. Slice the lean meat into large, thin pieces about 5cm long, 2.5cm wide, and 0.3cm thick (approximate—no need to be too precise, but thinner is better). If it’s hard to slice, you can slightly freeze the meat until it firms up a bit, then slice. Marinate the meat with starch, cooking wine, salt, and a little water. Mix well and set aside.

　　2. Wash the Chinese cabbage; tear the leaves into large pieces by hand, and cut the stems diagonally into thin slices. Wash the scallions and cut them into sections. Cut the dried chili peppers into sections with scissors and set aside. Finely chop the Pixian bean paste and set aside.

　　3. Heat 40g of oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the dried chili pepper sections and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry until they turn brownish-red, then remove and set aside.

　　4. Turn the heat to high. Add the scallion sections to the wok and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the Chinese cabbage and stir-fry until just cooked. Arrange the cabbage on the bottom of a large bowl and set aside.

　　5. Reheat the pan, then add another 40g of oil. Put in the chopped Pixian bean paste and minced ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, until the red oil emerges.

　　6. Pour in the meat broth and bring it to a boil.

　　7. Add the marinated meat slices to the pot. Use chopsticks to separate the slices. Once the meat slices change color and start to separate, add soy sauce, chicken bouillon, and sugar to season.

　　8. Pour the meat slices along with the broth into the large bowl with the cabbage.

　　9. Finely chop the previously fried dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, then sprinkle them over the meat. Also evenly sprinkle the minced garlic on top.

　　10. Clean and dry the wok, add 20g of oil, and heat until 90% hot (until it smokes). Then evenly pour the hot oil over the meat slices. That’s it. Tips: A few secrets to making especially fragrant boiled sliced pork:

　　1. The dried chili pepper sections and Sichuan peppercorns must be fried until brownish-red, crisp, and fragrant. The oil used to fry the chili and peppercorns is great for stir-frying the vegetables. After frying, chop the spicy and fragrant chili-peppercorn mix and sprinkle it on the meat—it’s delightfully crispy and flavorful.

　　2. The Pixian bean paste must be stir-fried until fragrant and a red oil is released.

　　3. The final pour of hot oil must be very hot to bring out the aroma of the minced garlic when poured over.