Dish of Hot Sour Pork
(click to enlarge)

Hot Sour Pork


China - Gansu   -   Suanla ligi

Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  
2 w/rice
***
1 hr
Most
Intensely flavored, but not particularly chili hot, as the recipe is from Gansu, just south of the Great Wall in north central China. For ease of scheduling, I have divided the recipe into 3 sections, with just 10 minutes to finish.

1
------
10
a/r
1/2
2
2
2
2
------
4
6
------
1
2
2
1
------
ar
3
1/4

#
---


in
t
T
T
T
---
cl

---
c
t
T
t
---

T
c

Pork loin (2)
-- Marinade
Chili, dry (2)
Water, boiling
Ginger root
Sichuan Pepper (3)
Cornstarch
Sesame oil, dark
Soy Sauce
-- Aromatics
Garlic
Scallions
-- Sauce
Water
Corn Starch
Soy Sauce
Sugar
---------
Oil, deep fry
Oil
Black Vinegar (4)  

Prep   -   (45 min - 35 min work)
  1. Cut PORK into cubes about 3/4 inch on a side.
  2. Break off caps of CHILIS. Split lengthwise and dump out seeds. Pour boiling water to cover over them and soak 10 minutes. Drain and chop fairly fine. Slice GINGER crosswise very thin and chop fine. Grind SICHUAN PEPPER.
  3. Massage all Marinade Items into Pork. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes, turning once or twice.
  4. Peel GARLIC and slice thin.
  5. Cut SCALLIONS on a sharp diagonal into 1 inch long pieces. Keep the White and Green parts separate.
  6. Mix together all Sauce items
Run   -   (35 min)
  1. In a wok, heat Deep Fry Oil over high heat and fry Pork, stirring until it is lightly browned (about 20 min). Scrape up the fond sticking to the pan as much as you can, but don't get obsessive. fish the pork out with your spider and set it aside to drain.
  2. Clean-up time - this will take about 15 minutes by time you get all the crust off the wok: Filter the Oil through a paper towel. Clean the wok and the tools.
Finish   -   (10 min)
  1. Return the wok to the stove over moderate heat. When dry, add 3 T Oil. Stir in Garlic and Scallion Whites. Fry stirring until garlic is light golden.
  2. Stir in Black Vinegar and turn up the heat. When it comes to a boil, stir in Pork, then the Sauce mix. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. You can hold here for a while, off the heat, if you need to.
  3. When ready to serve, reheat if needed and stir in Scallion Greens.
  4. Serve hot. It can be accompanied with noodles or with medium grain rice (California type).
NOTES:
  1. Pork:

      This can be whole loin or already cut into thick pork chops, or practically any other pork cut for that matter. Weight is for boneless with excess fat removed.
  2. Chilis:

      The pattern recipe called for dried Thai chilis. If you are concerned about the heat, dump out the internal membranes along with the seeds, or use the common Japones chilies. For details see our Chilis page.
  3. Sichuan Peppercorns

      Fruits of a prickly ash tree, now again legal in the US so long as they are lightly toasted. These are nothing at all like black pepper. For details see our Sichuan Pepper page.
  4. Black Vinegar:

      This is available from almost any market serving an Asian community. Gold Plum brand Chinkiang Vinegar is good. For details see our Sours page.
  5. 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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