At Home with Chinese Cuisine (25 page)
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Authors: T P Hong
Steamed Pork with Ground Rice
粉蒸肉
Steamed Pork with Ground Rice is a popular dish all over China. It is even more popular in inland provinces such as HuBei and HuNan, where steaming is a much-practiced traditional cooking method. HuBei Province has a set of three steamed dishes collectively called MianYangSanZheng (
沔陽三蒸
) that use ground rice to coat the main ingredients of meat, fish,
or vegetables. It was said to be a way to have some rice in the diet when it was scarce. It is for the opposite reason that steamed pork with ground rice is popular in the southern coastal provinces of JianSu and ZheJiang. Rice is plentiful in these areas, and this dish offers a different way of preparing it.
The cut of the meat used will influence the flavour of this dish. Belly pork is traditionally the preferred cut. After one to two hours of steaming, the fat in the meat gives flavour and keeps the meat and rice moist. Without it, the lean meat will taste very dry. To address this issue, you need to add some oil (home-rendered lard preferred) to the overall mixture.
The ground rice mixture used for this recipe consists of a blend of rice and spices. Instead of buying the little package of commercial ground rice mixture, you can prepare it yourself easily. It can be made in advance in a large quantity and be left in the freezer for a long while.
As a reference, the traditional blend of rice consists of two portions of short grain rice to one portion of glutinous rice. There are short grain rice from China, Japan, the United States, Italy (for risotto), Spain (for paella), and many more countries. The rice all varies in flavour. Glutinous rice comes in black, red, and white colours with different texture and nutritional value.
Five-spice powder is often used to give aroma to the ground rice mixture. It is available in supermarkets, or you can play with star anise, cloves, cassia bark, SiChuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds, which are the common ingredients for the five-spice powder, and decide on the blend you like the most.
As a rule of thumb, use 5 portions of meat to 2 portions of the ground rice mixture.
500 g belly pork with skin on 4-5 spring onion whites, coarsely sliced For the ground rice mixture: 120 g short grain rice 60 g glutinous rice 1/2 t SiChuan peppercorns, seeds removed 2 star anise segments, coarsely broken 1 cm cassia bark, coarsely broken 2 cloves, coarsely broken 1/2 t fennel seeds 30–50 ml water For the marinade: 10 g fresh ginger, sliced thinly and finely chopped 2 spring onion whites, finely chopped 3 T rice wine 1 1/2-2 t sugar 2-3 T dark soy sauce salt and pepper | Mix the marinade ingredients of rice wine, sugar, dark soy sauce, salt, and pepper in a bowl. You want the marinade on the slightly saltier side because it will be used to season the whole dish. Slice the belly pork (4–6 cm wide and 3–4 mm thick) across the grain. Add the meat to the bowl of marinade and mix well. Leave the meat in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but preferably longer. To prepare the ground rice mixture, dry-roast the rice and spices in a clean pan over a medium-low heat until the white rice picks up a bit of yellowish colour and the spices smell aromatic (approximately 5–10 minutes). Stir from time to time to ensure even heating. Leave them to cool down completely before grinding them in the electric grinder to get a gritty (coarse sand) texture. Bring the meat out of the fridge to return to room temperature before cooking. Mix the ground rice mixture and 30–50 ml of water into the bowl of meat. The water is added to give enough moisture to cook the rice. Coat each slice of the meat with the ground rice mixture well. Set aside for 30 minutes. Have a heatproof bowl ready by brushing a thin layer of oil on the surface. Arrange the meat in rows and each piece overlapping one another. Fill the centre with more meat to have an even surface. Cover the surface with sliced spring onion whites. Steam over a medium heat (or wait for the water to boil in the steamer and place it in the oven, 180°C) for 1 1/2 hours. When cooked, discard the sliced spring onion whites. Loosen the meat from the side of the bowl. Place a serving plate on top of the bowl and flip the bowl upside-down. It is then ready to be served. |
Chilli Oil, Poached Pork with Garlic Sauce
辣椒油,蒜泥白肉
Chilli
Oil
The three popular chilli peppers used in the SiChuan cuisine are a long, finger-shaped cayenne pepper with a hooked tip called ErJingTiao and two sky-pointing chillies: the Bullet Head in a shape as the name suggests, and the Seven Star. The two sky-pointing chillies are usually found in a cluster of seven growing upright and pointing towards the sky. They are grown in the neighbouring provinces as well, and they are used fresh or dried.
The local cayenne pepper ErJingTiao, grown in the surrounding villages of ShuangLiu County, is protected by the Chinese GIP legislation. It has a beautifully red colour and is aromatic with mild chilli hotness. It is used in the blending of chilli powder or pastes for its colour and aroma.
Both the sky-pointing chillies are used predominately for their hotness in the blending of chilli powder or pastes. XinDian Seven Star from the adjacent villages of WeiYuan County is the best-known seven star chilli production in SiChuan Province; it is also protected by the Chinese GIP legislation. Look for the GIP logo on the packaging for the genuine article.
This chilli oil recipe follows the traditional SiChuanese method of preparing the chilli oil. ErJingTiao is included for its colour and aroma. The Seven Star and the Bullet Head, along with lesser-known indigenous varieties, are used for their hotness and aroma. Dried chilli needs to be stir-fried prior to grinding to agitate its aroma molecules and to remove the taste of rawness. The cooking oil is then heated up to reach three different temperatures to pour over the ground chilli. Different oil temperatures accentuate different aspects of the flavour of the chilli.
60 g dried chillies
500 ml cooking oil (rapeseed oil is traditionally used in SiChuan Province)
3 spring onion whites (optional)
15 g ginger, sliced (optional)
5 g mixture of star anise, SiChuan peppercorns, cassia bark, and bay leaves (optional)
Wipe the dried chillies clean and cut them into 2-cm segments using a pair of kitchen scissors. Keep the seeds.
Heat the wok until hot over a medium-low heat. Add a sufficient quantity of the cooking oil and swirl to coat the wok; drain the excess oil. Add the chilli and stir-fry nonstop until a roasting aroma can be detected and the chillies start to turn slightly darker. Leave them on kitchen towels to cool down completely. Crush the chillies (by hand or with a rolling pin) and pound them, along with the seeds, with the mortar and pestle until obtaining a coarsely ground mixture. Divide them into 3 bowls.
When the herbs and spices are used: Heat the wok over a medium heat and add 500 ml the cooking oil to the wok. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and the spring onion whites until their aroma can be detected. Add the spice mixture, stir for 30 seconds or so, and switch off the heat. Leave them to infuse for 10–15 minutes if not longer. Drain the oil and remove the herbs and spices. The infused oil will be used for preparing the chilli oil.
Heat the (infused) oil in the wok over a high heat to around 210°C. If you do not have a thermometer, you can tell the oil is hot enough when the lines visible in the oil start moving quickly. These lines may be easier to see in a stainless steel pan. Pour 1/3 of the oil into the first bowl of the chilli mixture. Stir to mix well. It will produce sizzling noises with bubbles and bring out the aroma of the dried chilli.
Allow the oil to cool down to just under 150°C and pour 1/2 of the remaining oil into the second bowl of the chilli mixture. This temperature of the oil will bring out the hotness of the dried chilli.
Leave the remaining oil in the wok to cool down to around 100°C and pour it into the third bowl. Stir to mix well. It is thought to bring out the pleasing red colour of the dried chilli.
Pour the middle temperature bowl into the hot temperature bowl, followed by the lowest temperature bowl. Stir to mix.
Leave the chilli mixture to infuse in the oil for at least 1 day before using. Store the oil, unfiltered, in airtight jars in a dark and cool place.
There are different versions of pork with garlic sauce all over China. A credible source of origin can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty ruled by the Manchurians. It was their custom to offer boiled pigs for the celebration of festivals and special occasions such as weddings. The six-to seven-month-old, whole-boiled pig was also an offering for the heaven worship ceremonies conducted by the emperors, the sons of heaven, to pay homage to heaven.
As the old imperial capital of the Qing Dynasty, the Beijing cuisine as we know it today is influenced predominately by the palace and court cuisine, ShanDong cuisine, and the Muslim cuisine. Boiled pork sliced finely with a dip or sauce is now a popular traditional local dish. Garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and chilli oil are the common ingredients for the dips or sauces. Yellow bean paste and Chinese chive flower paste are the additions Beijinese are particularly fond of to go with this dish. A pinch of sugar is then needed to balance the saltiness of the pastes.
This dish can be prepared casually or with care fit for the banquet table. The knife work of slicing the meat, the cut of pork, and how the garlic sauce is prepared all play a part in influencing the perceived flavour of the dish.
This dish is also a well-known SiChuan dish. Hearsay has it that it was the Qing soldiers fighting the remnants of the previous Ming Dynasty revolts who introduced plain-boiled pork to the province in the seventeenth century. In the SiChuan Province, plain-boiled pork is traditionally served with a garlic sauce that includes a special concoction called soy sauce syrup. Each cook has his or her own recipe. The recipe I like most is made of light soy sauce, dark muscovado sugar, crystal (rock) sugar, and spices; it has two parts of light soy sauce to one part of the sugar. The mixture of spices can include star anise, fennel seeds, cassia bark (or cinnamon stick), and SiChuan peppercorns. There is no fixed proportion of spices to follow – it is a matter of individual preference.
500 g pork (preferably from the butt end) with skin on 2 spring onion whites 10 g ginger, sliced 1 cucumber (optional) | Buy a piece of pork that, when cooked, can be sliced into 8 cm × 3 cm, paper-thin pieces. To poach the pork: Immerse the pork in a pot of cold water. Add the ginger and spring onion to the liquid. Bring the water to a boil over a low heat. Turn the heat down further and simmer very gently for 20–25 minutes. Turn the meat upside down once during the cooking. Test the doneness by inserting a chopstick into the meat; it is done when the meat juice seeping out is clean. Switch off the heat and leave the meat in the cooking liquid to cool down. Leave the meat in the fridge to chill and firm up. Poaching the pork can be done the day before. |
For the garlic sauce: 5–7 plump garlic cloves, puréed 1–2 T warm cooking liquid 1 1/2 t soy sauce syrup 1 T or more chilli oil 2 t sesame seed oil | To prepare the garlic sauce: Puree the garlic by using the garlic press, or chop the garlic finely and crush them using the mortar and pestle. Place the garlic in a bowl and mix in 1 T of the warm cooking liquid. Add the rest of the ingredients and taste to adjust the seasoning. If you find the sauce a bit too thick, add 1 more tablespoon of the cooking liquid for a runnier texture. When ready to serve, slice the meat paper-thin with a very sharp, long slicing knife or a slicing machine. If cucumber is used, slice it thinly and arrange the slices on the plate, or peel the cucumber lengthwise using a peeler and fold each piece with the two edges folded together and placed in the centre of the plate. It is a flower petal arrangement. Arrange the meat in a colander with a bowl underneath. Boil the cooking liquid and pour it over the meat to refresh it; the cooking liquid can be used as a stock for other dishes. Drain the meat and arrange the slices on the plate, on top of the cucumber if it is used. Drizzle the sauce over the meat and serve the meat warm. |
Soy Sauce Syrup
300 ml light soy sauce (such as Kikkoman soy sauce)
100 g dark muscovado sugar
50 g crystal (rock) sugar,
5 g spices,
10 g ginger, sliced
50 ml water
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer gently until the liquid is reduced and thickened to a syrupy consistency; it takes 20 minutes or so. Stir from time to time. Strain and keep it in a sterilised jam jar. It can be left in the fridge for at least 6 months.