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Aug. 7th, 2022 11:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Stir-fried Cabbage with Pork Cracklings (youzha lianbai).
"A good butcher should be able to supply the back fat; if you can't get it, use fatty pork belly instead. This method is based on a recipe explained to me by the manager of the People's Commune restaurant in Chengdu."
3/4 lb cabbage
2 1/2 oz (75 g) pork back fat
6 dried chiles
3 cloves garlic (Ha! I used... actually that amount.)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
3 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
Sichuan pepper? I used 3/4 tsp
Tear the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Cut the pork fat into 1/2" dice. Snip the chiles into 3/4" sections. Peel and slice the garlic.
Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over medium heat. Add the diced pork fat and stir-fry until every piece is crisp, golden, and fragrant. Remove the cracklings with a slotted spoon and set aside. Carefully pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the fat from the wok and return to medium heat. Add the chiles and Sichuan pepper (Wait, what? You never mentioned that in the ingredient list) and stir-fry until they are fragrant and the chiles are darkening but not burned. Add the garlic and pork cracklings and stir-fry briefly, until you can smell the garlic. Add the cabbage, turn the heat up high, and stir and toss until the cabbage is just cooked (add 1 Tbsp water if at any point the wok seems too dry and scorchy). Finally, add the soy sauce, mix well, and serve.
What worked: This was a decent side dish. It used the rest of the cabbage we got in our CSA box. I reduced the back fat to about 1 oz (maybe 3/4?) and the chiles to a couple. That was fine and the end result was spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. I guessed at the Sichuan pepper; I suspect the intended amount was more but this amount worked.
Of course I had back fat already in the freezer.
What didn't: A rare miss by the editor on this one. Good thing I read the recipe a few times first. I had shredded the cabbage earlier to make a Chinese chicken salad and the cabbage was shredded a bit too finely for what the recipe describes. (It still seemed to cook okay at least.)
Will I make it again? I might, but it won't be a regular.
"A good butcher should be able to supply the back fat; if you can't get it, use fatty pork belly instead. This method is based on a recipe explained to me by the manager of the People's Commune restaurant in Chengdu."
3/4 lb cabbage
2 1/2 oz (75 g) pork back fat
6 dried chiles
3 cloves garlic (Ha! I used... actually that amount.)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
3 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
Sichuan pepper? I used 3/4 tsp
Tear the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Cut the pork fat into 1/2" dice. Snip the chiles into 3/4" sections. Peel and slice the garlic.
Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over medium heat. Add the diced pork fat and stir-fry until every piece is crisp, golden, and fragrant. Remove the cracklings with a slotted spoon and set aside. Carefully pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the fat from the wok and return to medium heat. Add the chiles and Sichuan pepper (Wait, what? You never mentioned that in the ingredient list) and stir-fry until they are fragrant and the chiles are darkening but not burned. Add the garlic and pork cracklings and stir-fry briefly, until you can smell the garlic. Add the cabbage, turn the heat up high, and stir and toss until the cabbage is just cooked (add 1 Tbsp water if at any point the wok seems too dry and scorchy). Finally, add the soy sauce, mix well, and serve.
What worked: This was a decent side dish. It used the rest of the cabbage we got in our CSA box. I reduced the back fat to about 1 oz (maybe 3/4?) and the chiles to a couple. That was fine and the end result was spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. I guessed at the Sichuan pepper; I suspect the intended amount was more but this amount worked.
Of course I had back fat already in the freezer.
What didn't: A rare miss by the editor on this one. Good thing I read the recipe a few times first. I had shredded the cabbage earlier to make a Chinese chicken salad and the cabbage was shredded a bit too finely for what the recipe describes. (It still seemed to cook okay at least.)
Will I make it again? I might, but it won't be a regular.
