Chinese "Fast Food"
A look at what "fast food" means in China, via 'Jiangbao tofu' and 'Zhacai fried pork' (榨菜炒肉丝/酱爆豆腐)
So there's this style of eatery in China that's a little hard to translate… it's called kuai can (快餐), and if you translated it directly – as people often do – it'd literally be 'fast' 'food'.
But if I said to you the words 'fast food', your mind would probably immediately jump to some sort of fluorescent lit chain serving up mystery meat cooked in assembly line form… and while I'm certainly no snob, Chinese kuaican's definitely a good bit tastier than that.
Quality wise you're probably looking at something closer to a diner, with a similar cultural footprint. The food comes fast, as the name suggests, but that's due to the fact that it's all whipped up at a wok station that can pump out simple stir fries in a flash. Generally speaking, a kuaican lunch consists of a simple stir fry, maybe some boiled veg on the side, and of course a small mountain of white rice.
So for this post, we wanted to try to teach you how to make a basic kuaican-style meal for yourself at home. But the cool thing about this is that it actually ended up being a perfect sort of homestyle meal for one to two people, because it's (1) by definition pretty quick and (2) it's also about as complete of a meal as you'd need.
Jiangbao Tofu
Soft tofu (嫩豆腐), 300g. Either gypsum or nigari tofu is ok
Brine for the tofu:
Salt, 1 tsp
Hot, boiled water, ~2 cups. Or enough to submerge the tofu.
Sauce for the stir fry:
Sweet bean paste (甜面酱), 1 tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp
Salt, ¼ tsp
Sugar, ½ tsp
MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp
Water, 1 tbsp
Aromatics:
Garlic, 2 cloves. Minced.
Mild or medium chili pepper, ~1 small. Cut into 1cm pieces.
Optional: Chili bean paste (郫县豆瓣酱), ¼ tsp. Only include if you already have on hand.
Slurry: ½ tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
Process:
In a bowl, combine 1 tsp salt with ~2 cups hot, boiled water (or enough to submerge the tofu). Cut 300g soft tofu into about one inch cubes and soak in this brine for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Mix together 1 tsp sweet bean paste, 1 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ⅛ tsp MSG 味精, ⅛ tsp white pepper powder, and 1 tbsp water.
Mince 2 cloves of garlic and cut 1 small mild or medium chili pepper into 1cm pieces.
Make a slurry by mixing ½ tsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water.
Remove tofu from the brine.
Swirl in 3 tbsp of oil in a hot wok over a medium flame. Heat the oil up until it can bubble around a pair of chopsticks, then slide in the tofu. Fry on one side for ~3 minutes, or until the oil becomes clear again, then scooch the tofu up the side of the wok.
If using, toss in your chili bean paste, and fry that until it stains the oil red, ~1 minute. Fry the garlic until fragrant, ~30 seconds, then swap the flame to high. Add in the sauce. Quick 15 second fry. Chilis in.
Swap the flame to low, thicken with the slurry.
Zhacai Fried Pork Slivers
Zhacai, Sichuan Preserved Mustard (榨菜), 80g.
Pork loin (瘦肉), 200g.
Marinade:
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Sugar, ¼ tsp.
Cornstarch (生粉), 1 tbsp.
Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tsp.
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp.
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp.
Water, 2 tbsp.
Oil to coat, ~1 tsp.
Oil, ~5 tbsp. Or enough to almost submerge the pork in your wok or pan.
Aromatics:
Garlic, 2 cloves. Minced.
Ginger, ~½ inch. Minced.
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp. For use when frying.
Seasoning:
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp.
Dark soy sauce (老抽), ¼ tsp.
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Sugar, ¼ tsp.
MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp.
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp.
Beansprouts, 50g.
Carrot, 20g. Julienned.
Slurry of ½ tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water.
Process:
Slice 200g pork loin into ~2 inch slivers. Marinate with ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, ½ tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp Shaoxing wine, ⅛ tsp white pepper powder, 2 tbsp water, and ~1 tsp oil to coat.
Mince 2 cloves of garlic and ~½ inch of ginger. Julienne 20g of carrot.
Prepare the seasoning: mix together 1 tsp soy sauce, ¼ tsp dark soy sauce, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar, ⅛ tsp MSG, and ⅛ tsp white pepper powder.
Make a slurry by mixing ½ tsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water.
Heat ~5 tbsp oil (or enough to almost submerge the pork in your wok or pan) over a high flame, ~180C. Shallow fry marinated pork slivers for about 30 seconds until they look almost done, then stir fry for another ~15 seconds to cook evenly. Remove, toss in a strainer, and make sure the excess oil drips off.
Remove enough oil from the wok to get ~2 tbsp remaining. Low flame, fry the minced garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Swap the flame to high. Add 80g Zhacai, fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in a tablespoon of Shaoxing wine. Pork in, quick mix, add the seasoning, another quick mix.
Toss in 50g beansprouts and the julienned carrot, fry for ~30 seconds, then swap the flame to low. Thicken with a slurry of ½ tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp of water.