1961 replies to this topic

[Jason Perlow]

What was your recipe for that pork and green chiles?

[liuzhou]

What was your recipe for that pork and green chiles?

I'm not sure that calling this a recipe isn't lending it a dignity to which it does not aspire, but here goes. It is a basic stir fry.

First I should explain the chillies. I used two varieties.



The larger ones at the back are the ones I usually use, but the batch I have now are a bit on the mild side, so I augmented them with the thin hot type at the front. The thin one was finely chopped and the large ones sliced.

I sliced the pork thinly then marinaded it in Shaoxing wine and corn starch. I stir fried some garlic and ginger for a few seconds until fragrant then added the pork and the hot chilli. When the pork was half done I added some dark soy sauce and the sliced chillies and continued cooking until the pork was done. Added chopped Chinese chives and a splash of sesame oil and served.

[patrickamory]

liuzhou - yum, that sounds delicious. What cut of pork did you use?

 

I'm a beginner but after making the chicken with sichuan peppercorns from Grace Young twice tonight (12 oz of meat each time), I felt brave enough to improvise with some asparagus.

 

Heated the wok until water vaporized in a second, added oil till just smoking, added dried evenly diced asparagus, stir-fried for about a minute, and removed to a bowl. Let the wok heat for a bit and added thinly sliced garlic, ginger and scallions. Stir-fried for about 15 seconds, then re-added the asparagus, plus some light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine - the sauce reduced and coated the vegetables almost instantly, decanted to bowl, and served.

 

No photos, but it was a success! I feel inordinately pleased with myself, since I'm not a great improviser in any cuisine.

[liuzhou]

liuzhou - yum, that sounds delicious. What cut of pork did you use? 

 

 

Ah! Every time I post, I dread that question.

Butchers in China do not use the same cuts as those in western countries. In fact, it often seems that they just chop away at random. For this type of dish, I just look for a fresh looking, reasonably lean piece of meat. Something like this.

 

 

[rotuts]

doesn't that random chop-chop just kill you!.   you have to get to the right place in the line to get the right piece.

 

" No, please.  You go ahead, Pleeeeeeeeeese!"

[liuzhou]

 you have to get to the right place in the line to get the right piece.

 

line? in China? 

Dream on! The concept has never caught on.

[rotuts]

OK  the right spot in the crowd

 

i have noticed a certain lack of 'protocol' at the butcher counter (s) in chinatown come to think of it.

[liuzhou]

That said, most of the locals are looking for the piece of pork which is 95% fat, so I don't have a lot of problems finding what I want.

[jsager01]

liuzhou - yum, that sounds delicious. What cut of pork did you use? 

 

 

Ah! Every time I post, I dread that question.

Butchers in China do not use the same cuts as those in western countries. In fact, it often seems that they just chop away at random. For this type of dish, I just look for a fresh looking, reasonably lean piece of meat. Something like this.

 

 pork.jpg

 

It is absolutely true that butchers in China do not use the same cuts as those in western countries, just as butchers in UK do not use the same cuts as those in US, 'mainland' europe, etc,  countries.  For that matter, butchers in different regions in China do not offer the exact same cuts, although there are some commonalities.

 

what i find useful, in whatever country where they  " they just chop away at random",  is to ask the butcher for the specific application of the cut of meat that i am interested in or just curious about. It will be an amazing free lesson into the local cuisine, assuming you speak the local dialect/language, or have a local to interpret. 

[liuzhou]

For that matter, butchers in different regions in China do not offer the exact same cut

Different butchers in the same market don't offer the same "cuts".

what i find useful, in whatever country where they " they just chop away at random", is to ask the butcher for the specific application of the cut of meat that i am interested in or just curious about. It will be an amazing free lesson into the local cuisine, assuming you speak the local dialect/language, or have a local to interpret.

Great idea. Which is unlikely to work here. The 'butcher' on duty in the market doesn't usually know or care. And if they do, they sure ain't going to be giving free cooking lessons in the market during a busy morning flogging their wares. Supermarket staff are even less likely to help.

And even then, I still often want to find a specific ingredient rather than pick up something at random, fun though that can be.

Yes, I speak the language.

Edited by liuzhou, 20 February 2013 - 08:47 AM.

[Prawncrackers]

This thread needs a bump up. One of my favourite Chinese meals recently. Steamed lemon sole with lap cheung and doong goo, chicken rice and some plain pak choy with oyster sauce. Ultimate comfort food!

 

[Jason Perlow]

 

Shrimp and Chicken Stir-Fry with Curry & Coconut Flavor / Eggplant and Zucchini. An improvised dish, we had a coconut tree harvested at our next door neighbors and we came into a windfall of coconut jelly/meat and coconut water. We processed up the coco meat/jelly/water and added it to a curry powder, and stir fried with the usual soy sauce. Was excellent.

 

 

Here is how it was plated, with Thai Red Rice.

 

 

Another Coconut Curry dish, this one a fried rice with BBQ chicken thigh meat and the leftover red rice.