Over Rice: Guizhou Edition (贵州下饭菜)
Over rice, Guizhou edition! There’s tons of dishes in Guizhou that’re perfect to smother over rice, and these are a couple of our favorites.
Zaola Pork Slivers
Note that you can use Zaolajiao as a base of this dish, or as Steph implied in the VO, you can also use Hunanese Duojiao (“Chopped Chilis”). The former is getting increasingly available abroad nowadays; the latter should be available at the vast, vast majority of Chinese supermarkets.
This is the Laoganma Zaolajiao.
And this is a good brand of Duojiao, though there’s others.
Ingredients:
Zaolajiao, i.e. Laoganma “Pickled Chili” (糟辣椒), 3 tbsp. Finely minced
Aromatics:
Garlic, 2 cloves. Minced
Ginger, ~1/2 inch. Minced
Lean pork (瘦肉/外脊肉), 200g. Cut into slivers
Marinade for the pork:
Salt, ¼ tsp
Sugar, ½ tsp
Cornstarch, ½ tsp
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (绍酒/料酒), 1 tsp
Dark soy sauce (老抽), ¼ tsp
Green garlic (蒜苗), preferably, or scallion, ~2 stalks. White and green separated. White slightly smashed; green cut into half inch sections
Spicy dried chilis, e.g. Xiaomila, Thai Bird’s Eye, 2. Halved
Oil, for frying, ~4 tbsp
Baijiu or Shaoxing wine (白酒 or 绍酒), 1 tbsp
Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp
Final seasoning:
MSG (味精), ¼ tsp
Dark Chinese vinegar (香醋/陈醋), ¼ tsp
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp
Process:
Mince the zaolajiao and the aromatics. Halve the chilis. Slice the green garlic (or scallion) and the pork. Marinate the pork.
Longyau with 4 tbsp of oil. Over a max flame, heat the oil until it can rapidly bubble around a pair of chopsticks. Add in the marinated pork. Fry for about one minute, or until it changes color. Remove.
Remove one or two tablespoons of the frying oil, keeping 2-3 tbsp in the wok.
Over a low flame, add in the minced zaolajiao. Slowly fry for 2-3 minutes, or until it’s stained the oil red/orange. Add the ginger and the garlic, fry until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Up the flame to high.
Add the green garlic (or scallion) whites together with the dried chili. Brief fry, then swirl the baijiu (or the Shaoxing) over the spatula and around the sides of the wok. Add back in the cooked pork, brief fry. Swirl the soy sauce in in the same manner as the wine. Mix, then add in the final seasoning. Mix again, then add the green garlic (or scallion) greens. Brief 15 second fry, then out.
Crispy Pork Belly with Douchi
Ingredients:
Natto, preferably medium or large grain, also preferably unseasoned, 80 grams
Pork belly (五花肉), 400g. Cut into 3mm slices
Seasoning for the pork belly:
Salt, ¼ tsp
White pepper powder, ~1/8 tsp
Aromatics:
Green garlic (or scallion), 1 stalk; white smashed, green sliced
Garlic, 2 cloves, cut into slices
Spicy dried chili, e.g. Xiaomila or Thai Bird’s Eye, ~4, halved
Baijiu or Shaoxing wine (白酒 or 绍酒), 1 tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
Final seasoning:
Salt, 1/8 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp
Sugar, ¼ tsp
Process:
Slice the pork belly, the green garlic (or scallion), and the garlic. Halve the chilis.
Swirl in about a tablespoon of oil into a wok, and over a medium flame add in the pork belly. Add in the ‘seasoning for the pork belly’ for a bit of base flavor. Fly until the pork has changed color and the frying oil’s clear once again, ~2 minutes.
Lower the flame to medium-low. Slowly fry the pork belly until the lard’s rendered oil and the pork belly is nice and crispy, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the pork.
Remove most of the lard that rendered out (reserve for another use), leaving ~2 tbsp inside.
Flame on medium, add in the natto. After ~3 minutes of stir frying, the sticky natto strings will form into a gloop. Remove the gloop and continue to fry the natto for 3-5 minutes, or until the natto becomes loose and slightly crispy. Move the natto to the side.
Add in the aromatics. Fry until fragrant, ~30 seconds, then up the flame to high. Mix with the natto, swirl in the wine. Add in the crispy pork belly, mix, swirl in the soy sauce.
Add in the ‘final seasoning’. Mix well, then add in the green part of the green garlic (or scallion).
Corn and Tomato
Ingredients:
Sweet corn, 1 ear
Tomato, 1
Green chilis, medium sized, medium spicy, ~3
Aromatics:
Scallion, 1 stalk. Green and white part separated. White minced, green sliced.
Garlic, 2 cloves. Minced.
Spicy dried chilis, e.g. Xiaomila, Thai Bird’s Eye, 2. Cut in half.
Baijiu or Shaoxing wine (白酒 or 绍酒), 1 tsp
Water, ¾ cup
Salt, ¼ tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp
Process:
Cut the corn kernels into a bowl. Rinse to get off any remaining silk. Strain, set aside.
Stick a chopstick through the tomato and grill it over a gas stove until the skin is blistered and shrunk, ~3 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, remove the skin. Core, remove the seeds, and cut into a ~1/2 cm dice.
Stick a chopstick through the chilis and similarly grill them. Once cool enough to handle, remove the skin. Scrape out the seeds and ribs, and cut into a ~1/2 cm dice.
Mince the garlic and the scallion whites. Slice the scallion greens.
Swirl in about ~1 tbsp of oil to a hot wok, and over a medium flame fry the aromatics and the chilis until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add in the tomato, fry for ~1 minute, then swirl in the wine. Add in the corn, give it a good mix, then add in the water and the salt. Swap the flame to high and bring to a boil. Swap the flame to medium-low, cover with a loose lid, and simmer for about 8 minutes.
After that time, swirl in a teaspoon of soy sauce and mix well. Add in the MSG, mix, then add in the green chilis. Mix well again, then add in the sliced scallion greens.