Lychee Pork (荔枝肉)
The Sweet and Sour you (maybe) have never heard of
This week, we wanted to teach you a classic dish from Fuzhou, Lychee pork; that is, Fujian-style style sweet and sour. We'll cover two versions – first a simple homestyle version with potatoes, and also a fancier banquet version that really does kinda look like a deadringer for a lychees.
Now, I know that we haven't done a ton of Fujian food on this channel yet, but if you are the type of person that really enjoys that saucy, sour and sweet American-Chinese takeout kind of fare, you going to love the food from Fuzhou.
What is Fujian food?
It's well known that the bulk of Chinatowns in America were built by Cantonese immigrants, so it naturally follows that a ton of different dishes on that takeout menu have Cantonese roots and equivalents. That said, something that's always bugged me is just how different Cantonese food at large feels on a… philosophical level.
Of course, Cantonese are far from the only immigrants to the west. Besides Guangdong, emigrees from the neighboring Fujian province have also had pretty huge impact on trans Pacific trade and migration – either directly, or via Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
And in my personal opinion at least? The food in Fuzhou just feels… closer. They've got hot and sour soup, the mandatory saucy vegetables, their own sort of fried spring rolls, and, of course, sweet and sour pork. Waltz into a neighborhood restaurant and, like, one whiff'll immediately start to evoke memories of fortune cookies and oyster pails.
Now obviously, that's not to say that the two foods're an exact one to one match or anything. But, to me at least, it's hard not to notice some of the… philosophical similarities.
Fujian vinegars
The basis, then, for a Fujianese sweet and sour will be, of course, the vinegar.
Fujian is a province that's known for its vinegars – after all, their famed Yongchun vinegar is considered one of the “big four vinegars” in the country. In their sweet and sour, the type of vinegar that's generally used is Fujianese xiangcu (香醋), which refers to a lighter rice vinegar.
To sub the stuff? Our recommendation is a Japanese rice vinegar, which hits a lot of the same notes.
Homestyle Version
Potatoes, 300g.
Pork loin (外脊肉), 325g.
Marinade:
Salt, ½ tsp.
Sugar, ½ tsp.
Baking soda, ¼ tsp.
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp.
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp.
For coating:
Cornstarch (生粉), 45g mixed with 35g water, plus 1 tbsp more water to coat.
For the sauce:
Rice vinegar, 25g.
Sugar, 25g.
Water/stock, 50g.
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ½ tsp.
Aromatics:
Garlic, 1 clove. Minced.
White part of two scallions. Cut into ~2 inch sections.
Slurry of ½ tbsp cornstarch (生粉) mixed with equal amount water.
Toasted sesame oil (麻油), 1 tsp. To finish.
Optional: Julienned carrots for garnish.
Process:
Cut 300g potatoes into about 1 in x 1 in x 1.5 in chunks. Rinse with water, then soak until you're ready to fry.
Mince one garlic clove, chop the white part of two scallions into ~2 inch sections, mix your sauce - 25g rice vinegar, 25g sugar, 50g water/stock, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder - and slurry (½ tbsp cornstarch mixed with equal amount water).
Slice 325g of pork loin into ~0.5cm slices, then briefly pound it with the back of your knife. Make some very shallow cuts in a criss cross pattern, then cut it at a ~30 degree angle to get something triangular-ish. Mix together with the marinade - ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp baking soda, ⅛ tsp white pepper powder, and ½ tsp Shaoxing wine. Set it aside.
Mix together the coating - 45g cornstarch mixed with 35g water - so that you have a sort of oobleck mixture. Add in to the pork. Give a rough mix, then add in another tbsp of water to loosen it up. Mix well.
Shape the pork into a 'ball-ish' shape by pulling one vertex to the center, then pinching another on top. Wrap the remainder up and over the top, then slightly pinch the sides to get a ball (sort of).
Deep fry the pork once at 130C for 3 minutes. Then fry again at 195C for 15 seconds.
Remove the potatoes, dry off with paper towel. Fry the potatoes once at 130C for 5 minutes, then again at 195C for 30 seconds.
To stir fry, over a medium-low flame with about a tablespoon half of oil, add in the minced garlic. Quick mix, turn your flame on to high, add in the scallion white, fry for ~15 seconds. Add in the sauce. Fry on high until it's bubbling rapidly, stirring often, ~30 seconds, then hit it with the slurry. Brief mix, potatoes & pork in, another brief mix. Heat off, drizzle in a teaspoon toasted sesame oil, out, garnish with julienned carrots.
Banquet Version
Pork loin (外脊肉), 325g.
Marinade:
Salt, ½ tsp.
Sugar, ½ tsp.
Baking soda, ¼ tsp.
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp.
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp.
Water chestnuts, 12.
For coating:
Cornstarch (生粉), 60g mixed with 60g water.
Optional: Red yeast rice (红曲), ½ tbsp, pounded or ½ drop of red velvet coloring.
Extra dry cornstarch to roll in.
For the sauce:
Hongzao red rice wine lees (红糟), 5g -or- Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 5g + 1 drop of red velvet.
Rice vinegar, 20g.
Sugar, 20g.
Water/stock, 40g.
Salt, ¼ tsp.
Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ½ tsp.
Slurry of 1 tsp cornstarch (生粉) mixed with equal amount water.
Toasted sesame oil (麻油), 1 tsp. To finish.
Process:
Cut 12 water chestnuts in half, then shave them into little balls. You can see a full uncut video of the process here – basically, keep slicing 'sides' to the water chestnut as if you were adding sides to a polygon. This will take a long time, and you'll have leftover shavings. Refer to the below to how to turn your shavings into starch (if you like).
Slice 325g of pork loin into ~0.5cm slices, then briefly pound it with the back of your knife. Make some very shallow cuts in a criss cross pattern, then cut it at a ~30 degree angle to get something triangular-ish. Mix together with the marinade - ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp baking soda, ⅛ tsp white pepper powder, and ½ tsp Shaoxing wine. Set aside.
Pound the red yeast rice (if using) and set it aside. Pound the hongzao wine lees, then mix together the sauce. 5g of hongzao red rice wine lees (or 5g Shaoxing wine plus 1 drop of red velvet), 20g rice vinegar, 20g sugar, 40g water/stock, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder.
Prepare your slurry of 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with equal amount water.
Mix together the coating: 60g cornstarch mixed with 60g water, plus that optional ½ tbsp of pounded red yeast rice (or ½ drop of red velvet) for color. Dunk the pork and the water chestnut into the coating, then place the chestnut ball in the center. Now pull one vertex to the center and pinch on top of the water chestnut ball, then pinch another on top of that. Wrap the remainder up and over the top, then slightly pinch the sides to get a ball. Roll the loose side in some dry cornstarch to sort of 'seal' it up.
Deep fry the pork once at 130C for 3 minutes. Then fry again at 195C for 15 seconds.
To stir fry, first longyau: get your wok piping hot, add in a tablespoon of oil, and give it a swirl to get a nice non-stick sturface. Then, with your flame on to high, add in the sauce. Fry on high until it's bubbling rapidly, stirring often, ~30 seconds, then hit it with the slurry. Brief mix, pork in, another brief mix. Heat off, drizzle in 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, out, optionally garnish with a bit of something green (you can garnish with whatever – we used mint because that's what we had on hand).