Pork in Spicy Broth, also called shuizhu pork, is a Sichuan-style dish, and as most Sichuan dishes are spicy, meaning hot, so this is a spicy dish. But there are degrees of spiciness, you don’t need to use more chili peppers or hotter chili peppers, you just need to make the dish feel spicy. Sichuan cuisine emphasizes contrasts, including contrast of flavors.
The first impression that people get from Sichuan Pork in Spicy Broth is that it is savory: it is really fragrant and very appetizing. Then, after tasting, they say “Wow, this dish is spicy, it makes me want to drink a lot of water!” This spicy pork recipe uses the “facing heaven” (朝天椒, Cháotiān jiāo) chili pepper, which is a medium hot pepper. Of course, if you are a serious lover of spicy food, then you can try substituting Chinese xiaomila “millet” peppers or Vietnamese chili peppers. I guarantee their spiciness will satisfy you. But please be careful, don’t eat too spicy, please eat spicy healthy.
Unlike spicy chicken, this dish is served hot. So you can eat it in winter. You can add any vegetables you like to eat, bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage (aka napa cabbage, 白菜 Báicài), or carrots to this dish, these are good choices.
Sichuan Spicy Boiled Pork
Equipment
- 1 wok
- 1 wire whisk
- 2 bowls (for egg white, and pork marinade)
- 1 saucepan (optional, for heating the oil)
Ingredients
- 500 g pork loin, lean
Marinade:
- 1 egg white
- 7 ml dark soy sauce
- 30 g sweet potato starch
- 5 ml salt
Stir-fry and broth
- 30 ml caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil) (for stir-fry)
- 1 Chinese lettuce Wōsǔn, also called celtuce, stem lettuce, or asparagus lettuce
- 2 green onions (cut in half, then sliced into sections)
- 50 g hot pot soup base
- 4 cloves garlic sliced in half
- 7 g fresh ginger
- 3 ml dark soy sauce
- 20 ml Pixian Doubanjiang bean paste
- 15 ml light soy sauce
- 5 ml sugar, white (granulated)
- salt (to taste)
Finishing:
- 1 g Sichuan peppercorns
- 10 dried cháotiānjiāo chili peppers (“facing heaven” 朝天椒)
- 2 green onions (minced)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 5 ml toasted sesame oil
- 7 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil
- 20 ml caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil)
- 2 sprigs fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
Instructions
Preparation
- Prepare the ingredients we need. Add a small amount of water to the sweet potato starch, stir well, and set aside. Separate the egg white and yolk. Whisk the egg white until no longer clear.
- Cut the pork into 2-4mm (1/16 to 1/8 inch) thin slices. Wash and drain. Add 5 ml of salt, 7 ml of dark soy sauce. Stir by hand until it feels sticky, add half of the egg white. Stir again. Then add the thick starch. Stir well, add the remaining egg white and stir well. Set aside.7 ml dark soy sauce, 5 ml salt, 1 egg white
- Slice the lettuce. Finely chop the dried chili, cilantro, and ginger.
- Slice 2 green onions in half lengthwise, then cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) sections. Mince the other 2 green onions. Slice 4 garlic cloves in half lengthwise. Mince the other 6 garlic cloves.
Cooking
- Add 30ml (2 tbsps) of oil to a dry pan and add the lettuce. After stir-frying, add the hot pot base and bean paste, green onion, ginger and garlic slices. Sauté until the hot pot base is melted. Add 3ml (⅔ tsp) of dark soy sauce and add enough water to cover the ingredients in the wok.1 Chinese lettuce, 2 green onions, 50 g hot pot soup base, 4 cloves garlic, 7 g fresh ginger, 3 ml dark soy sauce, 20 ml Pixian Doubanjiang bean paste, 30 ml caiziyou (roasted rapeseed oil)
- Season with salt, sugar, and light soy sauce. Bring the broth to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove the ingredients from the pot and place in a large bowl. Leave the broth in the pot.5 ml sugar, white (granulated), salt, 15 ml light soy sauce
- Put the sliced meat in the boiling broth. Cook over medium heat. Wait until the meat changes color before turning it. After cooking for 3 minutes, pour the broth into a bowl along with the meat.500 g pork loin, lean
- Put 20 ml (4 tsps) oil in a saucepan and heat to 150° C (300° F). Put green onion, garlic, Sichuan peppercorn and dried chili pepper on the meat slices. Drizzle the hot oil (20ml) over the ingredients. Add sesame oil to the broth. Finally, add the Sichuan peppercorn oil.1 g Sichuan peppercorns, 10 dried cháotiānjiāo chili peppers, 2 green onions, 6 cloves garlic, 5 ml toasted sesame oil, 7 ml Sichuan peppercorn oil
- Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve.2 sprigs fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
Notes
- We need to use thick sweet potato starch. In the end it is like a non-Newtonian fluid–it does not maintain constant viscosity under stress. Meaning, as you mix it, it seems thicker, but when you let it sit it seems thinner. So, if you added too much water, just let it stand, after some time, the starch will settle and you can discard the water in the upper layer.
- The role of preparation step 3 is to let the starch and egg white coat the pork. This will make the pork taste better.
- In cooking step 3, we can’t stir the slice right away as this will cause the starch on its surface to fall off. Let the starch set before turning.
- The soup will be a little thick at the end, don’t worry, it’s normal. Even if the starch does not fall off the pork, when the starch is heated in the broth, the broth will thicken.
- Caiziyou is a roasted rapeseed oil that is expeller-pressed, and popular with Sichuan chefs. Unlike Canola which is also made from rapeseed, but is chemically processed with hexane, and has a neutral flavor, caiziyou has a distinct flavor and aroma that really adds to a Sichuan dish. In the US, you must special-order caiziyou, but it is worth it. However, you can also substitute peanut, canola, or soybean oil.
Nutrition
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