Tag: Chinese
Pork and Potatoes
Pork and Potatoes
One of my favorite Chinese takeout restaurants, Bing’s, closed over 25 years ago. They were known for giant egg rolls, giant egg foo yung, plus standard Cantonese dishes that you’ll find on most menus prepared significantly better than other Chinese restaurants. But my favorite thing on the menu was their pork and potatoes. I’ve had it from many other restaurants, and it’s all been garbage in comparison to Bing’s. So what made Bing’s so much better? A couple things. While most potatoes used in this dish are cubed, Bing’s sliced them thinly on a mandolin. It creates a wider surface area when frying the potatoes, allowing them to get crispier than cubed. Most places just use oyster sauce. Bing’s added both light and dark soy sauces to enhance the flavor and give it a darker color. Also, their char siu was second to none.
Equipment
- mandolin
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb potatoes peeled
- 1/4 red onion sliced
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 cup char siu roast pork diced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- white pepper to taste
Garnish
- green onions finely chopped
Instructions
- Slice the potatoes on a mandolin about 1/4” thick. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Pat dry.
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Fry the potatoes in a single layer in 2 batches.
- Fry for 3 minutes a side until lightly crispy. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the onions and pork. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add the potatoes back into the pan.
- Pour in the soy sauces, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Make sure that all of the potatoes are coated.
- Pour in the water. Simmer for 5 minutes until all of the liquid has evaporated.
- Season with white pepper.
Roast Suckling Pig
Roast Suckling Pig
I started stonedsoup.net back in March of 2019. 2 1/2 years later, we’ve reached recipe #1000. I wanted to do something extravagant for this milestone. What’s more extravagant then a suckling pig? Just about nothing. Suckling pigs are typically slaughtered between 2-6 weeks old. The high amount of collagen in a suckling pig makes the meat rich and tender while it’s encased in it’s crispy skin.Suckling pigs in Chinese culture is a prized delicacy. It is served at weddings, large parties, as well as the celebration of a baby’s first month of life. The pig gets roasted until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Then the entire pig is cut with a cleaver into 2” pieces with the skin attached. It is served with the same type of pancakes you eat with Peking duck, plus hoisin sauce and green onions. While still being on the bone, the meat is so tender that it just slides right off.
Equipment
- Spice grinder
- foil
- roasting pan with rack
- cleaver
Ingredients
- 1 suckling pig 8-10lbs
- 2 tbsp coarse ground salt
- 1 tbsp 5 spice powder
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
Accompaniments
- Peking duck pancakes
- green onions
- hoisin sauce
Instructions
- Dry toast the fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns in a small skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Grind the fennel and peppercorns in a spice grinder. Mix together with the 5 spice powder and salt.
- Rub the entire inside cavity of the suckling pig.
- Place the pig on a rack upright. Set in the refrigerator overnight to allow the skin to dry out.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the pig on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil. Wrap the pig’s ears and nose in foil so they don’t burn during the roasting process.
- Toast the pig for 30 minutes. Turn the oven temp down to 350 degrees and roast for 90 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Carving the Suckling Pig
- Cut off the pig’s head and feet with a cleaver. The pig will be tender enough to almost pull the feet off.
- Cut off the pig’s thighs. Using the cleaver, split the pork down the center of the spine. Chop each side of the body horizontally, then cross cut to get 2” pieces of the suckling pig.
Shrimp Toast
Shrimp Toast
Growing up, shrimp toast was one of my favorite appetizers when we’d order takeout Chinese. Shrimp toast is really more Chinese/American fusion, but there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll never want to order it again once you learn how easy it is to make. The shrimp mix gets pulverized in a food processor, spread on white bread, cut into triangles, then lightly pan fried in under 5 minutes. Drain the grease from the shrimp toast on a rack instead of paper towels to keep them crispy.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 8 oz shrimp peeled and deveined; tail removed
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 4 slices white bread
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the shrimp, cilantro, green onions, sesame oil, ginger, salt, sugar, egg, and cornstarch in a food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Equally distribute the shrimp mixture on 4 slices of bread.
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Gently press them in.
- Cut the bread into 4.
- Heat up a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Place the bread shrimp side down into the oil.
- Cook for 3 minutes. Flip over and cook for 1 more minute.
- Drain the grease on a wire rack.
