The Sweet & Sour you've (probably) never heard of

Описание: Sweet and Sour Pork, Fujian-style. There's a bunch of different Sweet & Sour Pork dishes spread across China, but this Fujianese sort might be our personal favorite.

0:00 - Introduction
0:20 - What is Fujian food?
1:28 - Fujian vinegars
1:56 - Unstuffed Homestyle lychee pork
5:35 - Stuffed Banquet lychee pork
8:46 - Other approaches in Fujian?

As always, written recipe is also over here on /r/CasualChina if you prefer:

  / recipe_lychee_pork_a_fujianese_sweet_sour_...  

HOW TO TURN WATER CHESTNUT SHAVINGS INTO STARCH

1. Pound the shavings in a mortar, then add water and transfer to a bowl

2. Let it sit in the fridge for at least a few hours, or up to overnight. The starch will settle on the bottom

3. Pour out the liquid on top, and the remainder is some starch-water that you can use from slurries and the like.

You can also choose to sun dry what you have left over to obtain a powder.

INGREDIENTS, HOMESTYLE VERSION

Potatoes, 300g

Pork loin (外脊肉), 325g.

Marinade: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/2 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒)

For coating: 45g cornstarch (生粉) mixed with 35g water, plus 1tbsp more water to coat

For the sauce: 25g rice vinegar, 25g sugar, 50g water/stock, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉)

Aromatics: 1 minced garlic clove, white part of two scallions cut into ~2 inch sections

Slurry of 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (生粉) mixed with equal amount water

1 tsp toasted sesame oil (麻油) to finish

Optional julienned carrots for garnish.

PROCESS, HOMESTYLE VERSION

1. Cut the potatoes into about 1 in x 1 in x 1.5 in chunks. Rinse with water, then soak until you're ready to fry.

2. Mince the garlic, chop the scallion, mix your sauce and slurry.

3. Slice the pork into ~0.5cm slices, then briefly pound it with the back of your knife. Make some very shallow cuts in a criss cross pattern, then cut it at a ~30 degree angle to get something triangular-ish. Mix together with the marinade, set it aside.

4. Mix together the coating, so that you have a sort of oobleck mixture. Add in to the pork. Give a rough mix, then add in another tbsp of water to loosen it up. Mix well.

5. Shape the pork into a 'ball-ish' shape by pulling one vertex to the center, then pinching another on top. Wrap the remainder up and over the top, then slightly pinch the sides to get a ball (sort of).

6. Deep fry the pork once at 130C for 3 minutes. Then fry again at 195C for 15 seconds.

7. Remove the potatoes, dry off with paper towel. Fry the potatoes once at 130C for 5 minutes, then again at 195C for 30 seconds.

8. To stir fry - longyau, then add in the minced garlic. Quick mix, turn your flame on to high, add in the scallion white, fry for ~15 seconds. Add in the sauce. Fry on high until it's bubbling rapidly, stirring often, ~30 seconds, then hit it with the slurry. Brief mix, potatoes & pork in, another brief mix. Heat off, drizzle in the toasted sesame oil, out, garnish with julienned carrots.

INGREDIENTS, BANQUET VERSION

Pork loin (外脊肉), 325g.

Marinade: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/2 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒)

Water chestnuts, 12.

For coating: 60g cornstarch (生粉) mixed with 60g water, plus optional 1/2 tbsp of red yeast rice (红曲), pounded or 1/2 drop of red velvet coloring

For the sauce: 5g hongzao red rice wine lees (红糟) or 5g liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒) + 1 drop of red velvet, 20g rice vinegar, 20g sugar, 40g water/stock, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉)

Slurry of 1 tsp cornstarch (生粉) mixed with equal amount water

1 tsp toasted sesame oil (麻油) to finish

PROCESS, BANQUET VERSION

I'm running out of room here, so do click into the Reddit post for the full step by step instructions:

  / recipe_lychee_pork_a_fujianese_sweet_sour_...  

Huge thank you to My Name is Andong for providing the clip at 0:25. It's in his Peruvian Chifa video, here:    • Chifa: The Chinese Peruvian Food You Never...  

Peruvian Chinese also has an interesting Fujian connection. AFAIK, Peru's Chinese population came via the Philippines, which was predominantly Hokkien (south Fujian).

And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
  / chinesecookingdemystified  

Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel):    • Live Stream: Favourite B-Side Tracks  ​