Salty Pan-Fried Pork

Yanjian Rou (盐煎肉)

Thin slices of pork hindquarter are pan-fried with a pinch of salt among fragrant garlic sprouts, salty black beans, and spicy Sichuan chili bean paste.

Salty Pan-Fried Pork is... wait for it... SALTY. This may seem obvious but this is a salty dish. While not overly salty, it is saltier than your average Sichuan dish. So, definitely have some bowls of rice ready to eat with this meal. If the salt is too much, you can reduce the amount of Sichuan Chili Bean Paste and / or Fermented Black Beans by up to 1 Tablespoon. BUT I would recommend avoiding this and just enjoy the delicious slightly salty dish. Imagine eating fries without salt... it's just not as appetizing and kind of defeats the point.

Salty Pan-Fried Pork is super quick and easy to make. Though it resembles Twice-Cooked Pork, Salty Pan-Fried Pork is even easier to make. In fact, it’s often considered a kindred dish with Twice-Cooked Pork. However, unlike Twice-Cooked Pork, Salty Pan-Fried Pork is only cooked once. Raw slices of Pork are pan-fried with a pinch of salt to remove any unpleasant flavors. Then simple, but robust Aromatics are added for a salty, succulent explosion.

The perfect Aromatics for this dish are green stalks of garlic. There are actually two versions of garlic stalks: Garlic Sprouts (蒜苗) and Garlic Bolts (蒜苔). Garlic Sprouts are the green leafy stalks of young garlic plants, whereas Garlic Bolts are the immature flowering stalks that are also known as garlic scapes. Both have a mild garlic flavor and both are often used for Salty Fried Pork. I like to use Garlic Bolts because, when cooked with the salty Pork, they have a hint of natural sweetness that adds more complexity to the flavor. If you have no access to garlic greens, you can experiment with cabbage or baby bok choy.

The perfect piece of Hindquarter will be about 3-inches thick from skin to meat and about 2-inches wide. Also, it will have a nice thick layer of fat – about 40% to 50% fat. This seems like a lot, but much of the fat will be rendered out when cooking. Also, with a good ratio of fat to meat, the meat will curl with crispy, little edges while remaining properly balanced between tender and toothsome.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Total Time: 20 min

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

500 grams Pork Hindquarter

Aromatics
4 cloves of Garlic (About 15 grams)
1 2-inch block of Ginger (About 10 grams)

200 - 400 grams of Garlic Sprouts OR Garlic Bolts

Sauce
2 Tbsp. Sweet Bean Paste (甜面酱)
2 Tbsp. Shaoxing Rice Wine

Peanut Oil

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 Tbsp. Fermented Black Beans (豆豉)
2 Tbsp. Sichuan Chili Bean Paste (豆瓣酱)

Directions

1.) Wash off the Pork and pat it dry with a paper towel. Remove and discard the skin if present, leaving as much fat as possible attached to the meat. Slice the Pork as thin as possible and no thicker than 1/8-inch.

2.) Prepare the Aromatics by peeling, smashing, and mincing the Garlic and Ginger. Place the Aromatics in their own bowl.

3.) Smack the Garlic Sprouts flat with the side of a cleaver and cut them into 2-inch-long pieces. Set the white pieces aside on one half of a plate and set the green pieces aside on the other half of the plate.

(For Garlic Bolts, simply cut them into 2-inch-long pieces).

4.) Mix the Sweet Bean Paste and Shaoxing Rice Wine in a small bowl until emulsified to make the Sauce.

5.) Add 1/4 cup of Peanut Oil to a seasoned wok and heat on medium until hot. Add the Pork and stir-fry until the meat is about halfway cooked, much of the fat has rendered out of the meat, and the oil is popping slightly.

6.) Add the small bit of Salt and gently stir-fry it with the Pork slices just a few seconds until mixed.

(Use a gentle pushing motion while swirling the Pork in the bottom of the wok. This is actually Pan-Frying with Salt 盐煎 so there shouldn’t be a vigorous stirring motion).

7.) Remove the wok from heat, add the Black Beans along with the Sichuan Chili Bean Paste, and stir-fry everything gently for a few seconds. Then return the wok to heat and continue to stir-fry just a few more seconds until the Chili Bean Paste emulsifies with the Oil.

8.) Remove the wok from heat and add the Aromatics. Return the wok to heat, stir-frying everything just a few seconds until fragrant.

9.) Pour in the Sauce and gently toss the Pork slices, until all the meat is thoroughly coated.

10.) Add the white stalks of Garlic Sprouts and toss them with the Pork for about 20 to 30 seconds. Then add the remaining green stalks of Garlic Sprouts and toss them just until combined with the Pork.

(For Garlic Bolts simply toss them with the Pork for about 30 seconds until tender-crisp and fragrant).

11.) Spoon the Salty Pan-Fried Pork onto a plate and serve with individual bowls of white rice.

 

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