January 23, 2007
Easy Chinese Recipe: Pork and Szechuan Vegetable
Back in Singapore when I was working 16-hour days, eating was more of a “need” than a “want”, and cooking was almost a “never”.
During lunch time, I would go to the food court and choose the stall with the shortest queue, never mind that that is not my favorite stall. I just need to eat and get back to work.
One of the stalls in China Square Food Court sells mixed vegetables and meat dishes with rice or porridge. In Teochew/Hokkien dialect, we say that the stall sells “Chap Chai Png”. (”Chap Chai” means mixed vegetables and “Png” refers to rice.)
Stir Fried Pork and Szechuan Vegetable was one of the items that I would choose.
For those of you who do not know what is Szechuan Vegetable, it’s found in the refrigerated section of the Asian Supermarket and it looks like a dirty green brain. When cooked, it takes on a light tinge of orange.
Szechuan Vegetable is a type of pickled mustard stem, salted, pressed, and dried before being rubbed with hot chile paste and allowed to ferment in an earthenware jar. The taste is a combination of spicy, sour, and salty.
Easy Chinese Recipe for Stir Fried Pork and Szechuan Vegetable:
Ingredients (Serves 1-2):
- 1/4 lb pork, preferably with a little fat, cut into thin strips or slices
- 1 pc of szechuan vegetable, about size of a medium egg, washed thoroughly and cut into thin strips
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (for coloring purposes)
- 2 tbsp water
Seasoning for pork:
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
Cooking Method:
1. Season pork with salt, pepper and corn starch.
2. Heat up 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil in pan. Medium heat. When oil is hot enough, add garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
3. Add Pork and Szechuan Vegetable and stir fry until pork is lightly browned. Add dark soy sauce and mix well. Add water if you find the dish a bit dry.
4. Serve with plain white rice or porridge (rice congee).
Stir Fried Pork and Szechuan Vegetable - easy enough for you?
Bite This!
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Stir Fried Kai Lan Frolicking With Pork And Prawns
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January 23rd, 2007 at 6:35 pm
hehe *lol* i liked your description “it looks like a dirty green brain”. :) it does look like one doesn’t it? :D
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:12 pm
The finished product looks good, but it’s hard for me to get past the “dirty green brain” description.
16 hours a day? Are you nuts? Before I had kids, I worked 60-70 hours a week. That’s still less than 16 a day.
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
16 hour days? Crazy!
We must be in sync. I just made this dish a few days ago, VNese-style braised in coconut juice and caramelized sauce.
January 24th, 2007 at 1:01 am
Sim, I always find buying the whole is much saltier than the ones in the ready stripped little foil bags, 3 for 1 buck ! hehe.. Did you have to rinse them long before you cook ?
January 24th, 2007 at 3:13 am
Ah…this dish comes around on the dinner table at least once every 2 months ;)
January 24th, 2007 at 8:32 am
BuddingCook - hehe… it feels soft to touch. La la la …Squish squish the dirty little brain.
DF - Only during quarter ends. Yes. It’s crazy.
Chopsticks - I look forward to more VNese recipes from you! It’s interesting to see what other people eat :)
MW - I didn’t rinse for too long. Just rinse off the specks of chili and some dirt. I guess the ready stripped ones are more convenient, but for the big ones, I can cut out a big piece to make soup.
PP - simple and yummy hor.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
One time I kept the leftover sz. vege in the fridge, don’t know what happen, got dried up hahaha, perhaps will try once more, too bad this darn preserved veges got no expiration date on the bag one :(