Dish of Pork & Chinese Broccoli
(click to enlarge)

Pork, Ground w/ Chinese Broccoli


Sichuan / California
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 w/rice
***
1.1 hrs
Yes		 A very flavorful and satisfying stir fry of Pork and Gai Lan, with moderate chili heat, and quick to make. See also Comments regarding "authenticity".

9
12
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3
2
2/3
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1/2
1
1
2
1/2
1/2
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1/2
1
1-1/2
1/2
oz
oz
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cl
in
---
c
T
T
t
t
t
---
t
T
T
T
Pork, Ground (1)  
Gai Lan (2)
-- Aromatics
Thai Chili (3)
Garlic
Ginger
-- Sauce
Stock
Rice Wine (4)
Black Vinegar (5)
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Salt
---------
Sichuan Pepper (6)
Oil
Oil (more)
Sesame Oil
Prep   -   (35 min + 10 min to chop or grind Pork)
  1. Chop PORK very fine, or grind.
  2. Strip leaves and tender tops from GAI LAN. Tear leaves into fairly large pieces. Slice stems (including leaf stems) on a shallow diagonal starting at about 1/2 inch at the big end and increasing to about 1-1/2 inches at the thin end. Keep leaves and stems separate.
  3. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Slice GINGER very thin, cut slices into threads and cut them fine. Slice CHILIS very thin. Mix all.
  4. Mix together all Sauce items.
  5. Lightly crush Sichuan Peppercorns.
Run   -   (20 minutes)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan heat 1 T Oil and fry Gai Lan Stems for about 4 minutes. Stir in Gai Lan Leaves until coated with oil and wilted, about 1-1/2 minutes. Remove with a spider and set aside.
  2. Heat 1-1/2 T Oil and stir in Aromatics mix just until fragrant, then stir in Ground Pork. Fry stirring until Pork is very lightly browned. Make sure any fond adhering to the pand doesn't get too dark.
  3. Stir in Sauce mix and bring to a boil for 1 minute.
  4. Stir in Gai Lan until just warmed, then the Sichuan Peppercorns. There will be some liquid left for moistening the rice.
  5. Turn off heat and stir in Sesame Oil.
  6. Serve hot with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Pork:

      Weight is for boneless pork with all excess fat removed, and chopped fine, or ground - preferably at home. I have an excellent Mini Larb Knife which makes chopping easier than messing with a grinder.

  2. Gai Lan:

      This green looks much like Italian Rapini, but in an odd reversal it's actually broccoli, while Rapini is turnip greens. Most other Asian "cabbages" are actually turnip greens. For details see our Chinese Broccoli page.

  3. Thai Chili:

      Red or green (same heat). Three, just under 2 inches long, make this dish "a little spicy" by Southern California standards. Fresh Arbols, (about 3) are a good substitute, or 1 Serrano (much larger). Use your own best judgment as to how many and how hot.

  4. Rice Wine:

      Use a drinkable grade of Chinese rice wine (the cooking versions are heavily salted and rather awful). If you don't have the rice wine use a dry sherry (sake is made from rice but not considered a good substitute - it's beer, not wine). For details see our Chinese Rice Wine page.

  5. Vinegar, Black:

      [Chinkiang Vinegar] This is a dark rice vinegar, popular in Southern China. Best is from Chinkiang (Zhejiang). For details see our Vinegars & Souring Agents page.

  6. Sichuan Peppercorns

      Fruits of a prickly ash tree, - nothing at all like black peppercorns. Asian recipes always call for them to be lightly toasted before use, but to be legally imported into the USA they must already be lightly toasted, so I skip that step. For details see our Sichuan Pepper page.

  7. Comments:

      I could not verify authenticity of the pattern recipe, and it had obviously been "modernized". I studied ground pork recipes (and other recipes) in Fuchsia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan and corrected it as best I could, thus the "California" part.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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