Sichuan pork and pumpkin stir-fry over crispy noodles

I found this recipe on a fellow blogger website - thanks 3 Hungry Tummies - but had to make some changes to make this a bit more of a full meal, with some extra greens, larger quantities, and some improved methods. As I mentioned in the beef and bok choy over crispy noodles recipe, this is an extreme comfort food dish for me, but even more so than the beef and bok choy version, this one has the noodle I remember but adds some new and intense flavors that make this dish really satisfying. It's spicy, sweet, savory, salty, warming, crunchy, chewy - there's a lot going on here.

I really recommend trying the noodles in the air fryer, which helps them come out perfectly. I tried many times in a pan or wok, but the hot air really gets this the right level of crispy throughout, in a way that could only be achieved by deep frying otherwise.

• 1/2 lb frozen lo mein noodles, cooked till al dente, drained, refreshed with cold water and drained again
• 1/2 lb wedge of pumpkin (less than half of a pie pumpkin's worth), peeled and diced
• 1/2 lb ground pork (coarse if you can get / make it)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• a small knob of ginger (appx 1 tbsp), chopped
• 10 dried Chinese chiles
• 2 cups chopped bok choy or other Chinese greens, stems and leaves separated, cut into 1/2" strips
• 2 tbsp of doubanjian (hot bean paste)
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp light soy + 1 tsp for marinating
• 1/2 tbsp of dark soy
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine + 1 tsp for marinating
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water, for thickening + 1/2 tbsp for marinating
• 1 tsp sesame oil, for marinating
• 1/4 tsp white pepper, for marinating
• 4 spring onions, cut into 2 in lengths then cut lengthwise
• 1/2 tbs of Sichuan peppercorn, lightly roasted and crushed/ground
• Canola oil, for stir-frying.

Cook the lo mein noodles per the instructions, then rinse, drain, and toss in 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil like canola. Follow the process from beef and bok choy over crispy noodles.

Dice the pumpkin and prepare the garlic and spring onions.

Marinate minced pork with the smaller quantity of light soy and Chinese cooking wine, the white pepper, and the smaller quantity of cornstarch. Toss to coat, allow to sit 5 minutes, then add the sesame oil last to seal in the marinade slightly while cooking.

Pre-heat an air fryer to 385 F for a few minutes, then make a small noodle cake no larger than the area of your air fryer, and not more than a few noodles thick, and throw in for 8 minutes. Once browned, remove, and repeat with remaining noodles. This should make 2-3 patties, but scale up as desired.

Fry the diced pumpkin in canola oil over high heat until slightly charred. Remove to a bowl. Add more oil, then brown the minced, marinated pork with a little more oil when the wok heats up again, breaking up large lumps as you go. Remove to the bowl with the pumpkin.

Reheat the work over medium-high heat, add more oil, and quickly stir-fry the bok choy stems for a minute or so until starting to char slightly. Add the chopped garlic, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns with a little more oil and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Return the pork and pumpkin to the wok, but push out to the sides. Add in the dried chiles and hot bean paste and cook until the oil turns a little red.

Incorporate the pumpkin and pork into the stir fry and toss on high heat for a minute, adding the sauce base (sugar, light soy, dark soy, cooking wine, oyster sauce) at the end.

Add stock, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the pumpkin is tender, which could be 5-15 minutes depending on the pumpkin. As the pumpkin is nearing doneness, add the bok choy leaves and stir to incorporate. Thicken with the cornstarch slurry, bring to a boil to ensure the cornstarch does its job, and add in the spring onions.

Pour the spicy sauce over the crispy noodles and enjoy.

Beef and Bok Choy Over Crispy Air-Fried Noodles

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When I was growing up, there was a Chinese restaurant near me that served a few different stir-fries served in a "bird's nest". Although actual birds' nests are a thing, this is not what they served - it was shredded potatoes shaped into a bowl and then deep fried, usually served with a mix of seafood and vegetables in a rich, light colored but very garlic-heavy sauce. The dish has a lot in common with some versions of chow mein, which in some preparations is a bed of really crispy noodles with a very heavily sauced stir-fry plated over the top. Both are great, and the consistency is what really wins me over - crispy on the edges, but chewy and loaded with flavor as you work your way in, and as the noodles start soaking up the sauce from the outside in.

To try to replicate this, I bought a nest-frying tool, which is a strange contraption of two concentric hemispherical baskets that clamp together, and you load up the volume in between with potato and then deep fry the whole thing. Naturally, I've never used it. Instead, I've tried to make the noodle version of this dish a few times with minimal success, mostly because the crispy noodle cakes that serve as the foundation usually come out both squishy and burnt when trying to get heat into the center of a cake of pre-boiled noodles. On a recent attempt, after having a fit about ruining too many noodles, I gave up in a fit of rage and threw a small quantity of the noodles into my air fryer, which turned out to be the magic step - this turned a disaster of a process into a really easy one. And then today, based on a recent attempt at making a few Thai noodle soups from Serious Eats, I borrowed a technique where you make a garlic-infused oil and then use that as the oil to coat the noodles in, prior to air-frying. The result was better than any version I've had in a restaurant.

The toppings for this crispy noodle cake almost don't matter as long as there's enough of a decent, garlicky sauce to work its way into them at serving time. I tend to lean towards a beef with oyster sauce, so I liked the version that combines beef and bok choy from Omnivore's Cookbook, adapted to what was in the garden, and using some leftover rare rib roast and only lightly stir-fried. It's infinitely adaptable, so long as there's at least a cup of a thickened sauce to go over the noodles. If you get the timing just right, serving over the hot, freshly fried noodles will get them to sizzle audibly, and start soaking up that goodness right before you start eating.

A word on ingredients - use decent stuff. There's a good amount of oyster sauce in this, and Shaoxing wine is used in a couple of steps. Try to get a good quality version of these two things, which both make a difference. Try to find an oyster sauce that's actually got "oyster" as the first ingredient, and look for a wine that's got less salt and might be labeled "hua diao" or has aged a bit. This is going to change the flavor immensely, and took me a long time and many mediocre stir-fries to realize.

These are the versions of the key ingredients that I keep on hand. And yes, that's Japanese soy sauce, not Chinese.

Mandarin orange chicken stir-fry

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It's not tangerine chicken, but it's pretty close. We'll save all of the remaining peels from that box to dry and use in future dishes.

You may notice that it's been quite a while since I've posted any new recipes here. Life has been pretty busy, and I've mostly used this recipe blog as a quick resource for myself instead of adding new dishes. If I have a ton of time one of these days, I'll get a few new winners up, though truth be told many of them are very minor tweaks to existing recipes, so they're just a standard repost like most of the internet has these days.

However, I just made a dish that was NOT a repost of any particular recipe, instead being a mix of a few different versions of a popular dish, and wanted to get it posted here, both for myself in the future and for others. Plus, it's a "Costco hack" that uses their frozen chicken bites, which is a great time-saver and somewhat of a compromise between a heavy, deep fried coating (fast-food style) and not being breaded at all (authentic Hunan-style preparation).

The reason I'm making this at all is that we went to Trader Joe's today to try to find a pack of their Mandarin Chicken, which is surprisingly good, but they were out. This ended up being an opportunity instead of a burden, because they had decent fresh mandarin oranges, so we gave ourselves a challenge and tried to make something better. I had recently been researching to try to figure out what this dish originally would have been inspired by, since most Chinese-American food is not authentic - orange chicken in particular, as it was invented by the founder of Panda Express some 30-ish years ago. I love the backstory on this, as I do for other fun facts on "Chinese food" after watching The Search for General Tso (which is really good and very short, highly recommend). With a bit of digging, I found that the actual dish that Mandarin chicken comes from is tangerine peel chicken (which I believe is chen pi ji if an internet search is accurate), and it isn't terribly hard to reproduce with the right ingredients. The dish doesn't use breaded chicken, and it includes prickly ash (sichuan peppercorn), which we like enough to grow in our yard and harvest for use in Sichuan dishes. So we made a kind of mash-up of different cultures and produced a dish that was somewhere in between the American and the Chinese dish from Hunan province. And, naturally, we used lightly breaded chicken, because we had it and it's delicious, and spared us the trouble of firing up the wok this time. I can't rightfully call this tangerine chicken because we couldn't find tangerines, but we did use real California mandarin oranges, both peel and juice, and those seem to be a close second on many websites. Also, mandarins are genetically one of the parent citrus fruits, so I'm going to just claim that this substitution isn't as blasphemous as, say, using pasteurized orange juice.

One point of note, as referenced above - we used Costco's Just Bare lightly breaded chicken, which is routinely cited as a knock-off of Chick-fil-A nuggets, but it also makes a fantastic base for coating in a glaze, be it teriyaki, pineapple, or this mandarin orange sauce. I highly recommend this substitution, which we cooked in our air fryer before tossing in the sauce.

I ended up using a whole bunch of kitchen electrics, as shown in this photo of my kitchen chaos, but you could probably get by with the basics if you have an oven and a clean coffee grinder.

Lots of gadgets involved that helped - air fryer (left), spice grinder (left of oranges), and rice cooker (right)

We'll probably adjust this dish quite a bit, since I plan to make it regularly in both breaded and unbreaded forms. I'll update to the best version we come up with, which may end up including black vinegar and Shaoxing wine in some form, which would be a bit more faithful to the real recipe. And we will try dehydrating mandarin peels instead of using them fresh, to see if this concentrates the flavor further (which I suspect it will).

Mandarin Orange Chicken (with Broccoli)

Created after modifying highly from Woks of Life version and reviewing historical recipes on chen pi ji

• 1 lb lightly breaded chicken bites (we used Just Bare brand, but you could do a cornstarch-battered and fried breast chunk, or just use unbreaded chicken thighs stir fried with a bit of ginger and garlic, which would also be excellent)
• 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
• 6 dried red chili peppers, whole
• 4 mandarin oranges
• 1 tbsp canola or peanut oil
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in a small bowl with 1 tbsp water
• 1 scallion
• 1/2 lb broccoli florets

First, get all of the pieces ready. Steam the broccoli until par-cooked. Wash and peel the mandarins, reserving the peel of at least 2 (you only need 2 for the peels, possibly 4 to get enough juice). Try to get the peel off in large pieces. Scrape the white pith off of the inside of the peel with a serrated knife to reduce bitterness, and cut the two peels into long strips. Juice enough of the peeled mandarins to gather 1/4 cup of juice. In a large measuring cup, assemble the sauce liquids - the mandarin orange juice, chicken broth, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce.

Cook the chicken using an appropriate method (for us, this was air-frying the breaded chunks) until done. Once the chicken has about 5 minutes remaining, heat a large frying pan (NOT nonstick, you need it ripping hot) and toast the sichuan peppercorns over high heat for 30 seconds or less, until it begins to release fragrance, and place in a spice grinder to cool for a minute before grinding to a powder. Slice the scallions on an angle, separating the pale white part from the green part.

Back in the empty and hot pan, add the chili peppers and mandarin peel strips for about 15 seconds. Then add the canola oil and the white part of the scallions, and toss all to coat for another 15 seconds. Now carefully add the juice mixture from the measuring cup - this will splatter, so be careful. Cook until this darkens and thickens, at least a minute, possibly more. You want to caramelize the flavor a bit, but not reduce this until it's a syrup.

Now, all within about 10 seconds of each other, add just enough of the cornstarch/water mix to thicken the sauce to a glaze (less is better here, and don't use all of this unless you really need to or else you'll make a paste), then add the cooked chicken and the par-cooked broccoli and toss all to coat. Throw in the green onion tops, toss again, and serve over rice.

Americanized Kung Pao Chicken

One of my new favorite websites is Serious Eats. Their head chef has some great recipes informed by testing out different ways of making each dish, and they also have other authors (read into that as you will). We tried both versions of Kenji Lopez's kung pao chicken, and were pleasantly surprised by both of them. Naturally, being filthy Americans, we were fans of the Americanized or "take out" version, which uses vinegar, bell peppers, and celery to create a delicious replica of the usual restaurant order. It was instantly obvious that white vinegar was the missing ingredient in some take-out recipes, so I'll be on the lookout for ways to shove this into other stir-fries. The authentic version uses a Chinese black vinegar known as Chinkiang vinegar along with leeks and Sichuan peppercorns, which is definitely worth checking out as well. Stay tuned for my repost of that recipe, or just go here for the original one.

Chinese Pork and Mustard Green Soup

In a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants, you might come across a pork and mustard greens soup. I tried it recently, figuring it would be exotic. It wasn't. Bland, floating in artificial chicken broth, the greens just looked up at me plaintively and forgotten, as if saying "is this how it all ends?"

To which I say "no." This is the day your life truly begins, mustard greens. Because I have scoured the far-off land of the internet in search of a better recipe that will avenge your death. A recipe with more than four ingredients, that might elevate our lowly mustard greens to something more satisfying, more vibrant, and certainly more memorable. I found it in Bon Appetit's coverage of this dish and, being the first recipe I had seen with more than a small handful of the most obvious ingredients, gave it a try.

What was produced was arguably one of the finest soups I have ever made. Light, simple, yet remarkably flavorful, this soup delivered an exotic aroma and a complexity that was almost surprising, given the speed with which it was produced and the simple ingredient list. I highly recommend seeking out a few key ingredients - true Sichuan peppercorns, half decent chicken broth, and fresh baby mustard greens, which can be found at farmer's markets around this time of year, and which deliver the appropriate amount of bitter tang and crunch that you won't get from spinach, kale, or any of the other soup-friendly greens. Go with a low-sodium chicken stock like Kitchen Basics, or make your own, which will be even better (and also even lower in sodium).

Update 5/25: Now having made this dish a few dozen times, I revised this process to get maximum heat into the pork to aid in browning without burning the spices and aromatics. Also, this is equally good with turnip greens, which you may end up with if you grow turnips or get a bunch from the farmer’s market and have the tops left over. We blanch our greens in 4 cup batches and throw that whole pack right into this soup, which is really helpful for making the most of spring and fall harvest.

Left to right - homemade Chinese chicken stock with ginger and scallions, browning the pork just after spices were added, and prepared noodles tossed in oil (in this case wheat-based)

Chinese Spicy Pork and Mustard Green Soup
Modified from Bon Appetit, Jan. 2014

Updated May 2025

• ½ pound ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
• ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground white (or black if you don’t have it) pepper
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch mustard greens, torn (about 4 cups)
• 4 scallions, white parts in 1” lengths, green parts thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
• 8 oz. wide rice noodles
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar or black vinegar, for serving

Depending on preference, toast and grind the dried spices - Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes, and cumin.

Mix ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes, and cumin in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add pork and green onion white parts and cook, stirring and breaking up with a spoon, until starting to brown, 4-5 minutes. Reduce temperature to medium if the pork is frying well, otherwise leave on medium-high to keep moisture out of the pan. Add ginger/spice mix and cook for another 1-2 minutes to incorporate. Just before adding broth, reduce heat to medium and add minced garlic, stir, and cook for no more than one minute, avoiding burning it.

Add broth and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors meld, 5 minutes. Add mustard greens, soy sauce, and fish sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender, 5–8 minutes; season with salt and white or black pepper.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. If desired, rinse noodles until cool, drain, then toss in either a neutral oil or a garlic- or shallot-infused oil. Divide noodles among bowls and ladle soup over. Garnish with green part of green onions. Serve with a small bowl of vinegar tableside, possibly with Japanese togarashi seasoning as well if you want more kick.

Pork with Chinese Yellow Chives

Chives - let's talk about them. How many kinds of chives can you name? Is it one - the tiny ones that you buy in little plastic packs and put on baked potatoes? If so, then congratulations - you are officially an ignorant American, like me! As it turns out, there are multiple varieties of chives, and while surfing the internet I came across this recipe that looked like it would help me further unravel the Mystery of the Unnamed Produce that I usually encounter at the asian grocery store. My journey into madness learning about garlic chives spanned multiple weeks and was very informative, so I'd like to share, in the hopes that you, the hungry reader, can better jump into the world of proper produce selection.

These are the correct chives - gau choy (right), and gau wong (left)

First of all, I had to make this recipe twice. I was so excited about the prospect of buying "asian chives" (which isn't really a thing, they're actually called "garlic chives": Allium tuberosum) instead of American chives (which I will refer to as baked potato chives, or BP for short: Allium schoenoprasum), that I grabbed the first thing that looked like chives at the asian store and got the heck out of there. This led to a disappointing, bland dish, which gave me pause to do a bit of digging and discover that there are actually 3 kinds of Chinese / garlic chives you can get from the asian grocery store, all of which are from the same plant, and all are about 12 - 18" long packs of thin-stemmed green (or yellow) things:

1. Flowering chives (gau choy fa). These have a rounded base and the purple / green buds at the top, and look like a larger version of BP chives. Apparently they have much less flavor than the others.
2. Standard garlic chives (gau choy, kow choi, jiu cai, nira) are broad, flat leaves that are much more delicate than the flowering variety, and are much more edible as a plant when stir-fried quickly. Both of these have a very pronounced garlic flavor, though these are almost similar to ramps in their consistency.
3. Yellow chives (gau wong, jiu huang, kow won, "albino chives") are like white asparagus - grown without sunlight by heaping dirt on them, they don't develop chlorophyll, so they never turn green. They also are milder in flavor, and taste more like onions than potent garlic. They're also significantly more expensive - $15 / pound near me!

Let's look the other way about how I completely ignored the recipe the first time I made this, purchasing gau choy fa and hoping for magic, when all I ended up with was a plate of pork and tree stems. Instead, we'll focus on the second version of this dish, which ended up being a culinary rockstar - packed with garlic flavor and vibrant colors, yet inherently simple in its construction and very authentic in its rustic components.

These are flowering garlic chives. Not at all the correct chives, these were woody and bland

The incorrect version looks decent, but it's not what the recipe intended

Cumin Lamb Stir-Fry

My favorite Chinese restaurant in the area is owned by people from Chengdu, in the Szechuan province. It has opened my eyes to the variety in Chinese food, bringing in ingredients like homemade pickled bamboo, the increasingly present and always numbing Szechuan peppercorn, and the use of lamb, often with cumin. The first time I had lamb in a stir-fry was at P.F. Chang's, which shouldn't even really count, but it at least helped me realize that Chinese food shouldn't always just be about what sauce you want your chicken or beef swimming in. Savory, wild, and bursting with a rustic flavor that had nothing to do with General Tso or his counterparts, Pork Lo Mein and Wonton Soup, Chinese lamb dishes point out that there's something familiar and "country" about this part of China. So when I saw this cumin lamb stir-fry recipe on the NYT website, I was immediately ready to make it, and went out in search of lamb that same day.  

Naturally, this was a disaster. Somehow, despite watching Melissa Clark's video and following it verbatim, her magic did not translate into my kitchen. The resultant dish tasted almost right, but lacked body, and was a choking hazard when I just threw in a bunch of cilantro because it didn't call for chopping anything. So I had to modify the process to suit the average cook's home stove, which by no means can handle cooking a full pound of meat properly in one go. The second attempt was notably different, with properly seared and juicy lamb, and no choking hazards. It was every bit as good as food from the Szechuan restaurant, and if metering one's oil usage carefully, I would say it's probably more healthy as well. A definite win against the evils of professional recipes made in professional kitchens by people who can be snobby on a professional level.

Pad See Ew (Soy Sauce Noodles) and Homemade Sriracha

Pad See Ew is one of those ubiquitous Thai dishes you always see hidden on a Thai restaurant menu.  You've got your red and green curries, your Pad Thai, maybe some Pad Prik King or Gai Himmaparn, and this.  It's easy to translate - "pad" means stir-fried, and "see ew" means soy sauce.  Not much left to the imagination.  And the ingredient list essentially doesn't disappoint - noodles, meat, a few other things, and soy sauce.  Ah, but not just any soy sauce, as we will get to shortly.  It's been influenced by the Chinese, which explains why they're using the phrase "see ew", a Southern Chinese term for soy sauce, and also why Chinese broccoli is used here but in basically no other Thai staple dish I've yet come across.  I tried making this a number of times a few years ago with mixed success, then I went off into a cave and thought about what I did wrong, then looked up a ton of different recipes, and finally I took a nap.  When I woke up I assembled this new one.

Restaurant-quality.  Not something I throw out lightly.  And it's not often that people tell me to quit my day job and open a restaurant after dinner.  But that happened when I made these soy sauce noodles, after my adjustments to the recipe, my ingredients, and my process in order to best capture the flavors and textures of this dish.  Every bit of this is a spot-on copy of the best soy sauce noodles I have ever eaten which, if you haven't done so, I highly recommend you try.  I will make it a point to comment on where I have made tweaks, and what is a critical detail in making this dish.  Don't cut corners, look for the right ingredients, and you'll pull through.


Pad See Ew (Soy Sauce Noodles)
Adapted heavily from RealThaiRecipes.com

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced shallot
• 1/2 cup pork (or chicken), thinly sliced and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup wide rice noodles, FRESH (dried is just not going to cut it if you want the real deal)
• 1 generous cup chinese broccoli
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp black soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder

First, gather your ingredients.  This may take some time - you need to find shallots, Chinese broccoli, and things called 'white' and 'black' soy sauce.  I know what you're thinking: you've got some 'black' soy sauce already, so what the heck is white soy sauce?  Well, you are wrong.  If you have soy sauce, you have 'white' soy sauce.  Or 'light' soy sauce, which has nothing to do with 'low sodium' soy sauce.  'Black' aka 'dark' aka 'sweet' soy sauce is made by adding sugar or molasses to the soy beans before fermentation, and lends a strong sweetness and a thick consistency to the finished product.  It is aged longer than the light soy sauce, and is less salty.  It is the primary ingredient in Pad See Ew, so if you can't find it locally, order it before you make this dish.  I recommend Healthy Boy brand if you can find it.  Let's take a look at these products:

Various soy sauces.  From left to right: a) low/less sodium, sometimes called "lite", not to be confused with b) "light" or "white" soy sauce (basically just regular soy sauce), c) Thai "black" soy sauce (siew dam in Thai) aka "sweet" soy sauce, which is essentially the same as d) Chinese "dark" soy sauce

Since you're using fresh noodles, which you can purchase at the Asian grocery store, separate them from each other, and place them on a plate.  Now, if yours were like mine, you got them refrigerated, and they're a big stuck together wad that doesn't look like people food - it looks like a bunch of squid.  I tried warming in the microwave and ended up getting as far as separating the rolls from each other, then giving up and cutting them into what would later become small rice pillows.  But next time I will soak them in cold water (cold to prevent further cooking), then coax them apart gently and dry them separately from each other.

They may look like squids, but they are in fact rice noodles, all bunched together.  Soak in cold water to unravel them.

If you absolutely can't find these and end up using dried, boil them for 6 minutes, drain in cold water, and rinse 2-3 times until fully chilled.  RIGHT BEFORE cooking, remove them to colander to drain for about 1 minute.  Don’t let them sit out to dry.

Cut the Chinese Broccoli stems at an angle so they cook easier, into about 2″ (5cm) long pieces towards the top, and smaller at the stems.  Cut on a bias for nice looking pieces. Make sure to clean well.

Heat a large nonstick saute pan on the highest heat you've got.  When sufficiently hot, add the oil and swirl to coat.  Add the garlic and shallots, and fry until lightly browned and fragrant, about 15-20 seconds.

Add the pork (or chicken) and fry until cooked through. Keep stirring so the garlic doesn’t burn.

Now add the noodles.  Don't worry about the other ingredients, we'll get there.  Keep stirring so they don’t stick.  Add the soy sauces, sugar and white pepper. Mix well.  Your goal here is to infuse the soy sauce flavor into the noodle but not into the veggies or egg.  So stir this around, let it absorb into the noodles, and continue.

Let the soy sauce get into those noodles

Crack the egg into the pan on top of the oil. Scramble in the pan and let sit until solid.  Break up with a spatula.

Add the Chinese Broccoli, and mix well. You may need to add a little bit of water so everything cooks and doesn’t stick.  Don’t add so much that the noodles get clumpy though - maybe around 1 teaspoon at a time.  As soon as broccoli is cooked, turn off heat and plate immediately.

Dish out and serve with soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chili powder and white pepper so you can flavor to your taste preference at the table.

Note: If cooking more than one serving, cook them one at a time. If you cook too many noodles in the pan, you'll get a big sticky glob.

Homemade Chili-Garlic Sauce (Sriracha)

If you have a blender and 2 minutes, you can make this.  Put 8 red jalapenos, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 tsp salt into the blender.  You may want to do obvious things like take the stems off your peppers and maybe peel the skin from the garlic, but only if you want this to be, you know, edible.  Once blended, pour this mix into a jar and top with 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar - enough to cover the pepper mix.  Let sit for a few minutes, and you're good to go!  Should keep basically indefinitely.

Chinese Stir-fried Pork with Leeks

A simple recipe I found in Saveur magazine, lifted directly from there and then screwed up only slightly on my first attempt.  I will post the recipe ingredients as printed, with a couple of caveats in the instructions.  The recipe describes 'reverse stir-frying', where the vegetables are [atypically] cooked before the meat, then added back in.  I'll admit, I usually cook the meat first, but I don't think this is anything earth-shattering.

I wish I could tell you more about the backstory of this dish, because based on its short ingredient list, I picture this as coming from the countryside.  It's like the Chinese equivalent of a really good taco - throw a few things together, let the individual flavors really shine through, and don't get too fancy with anything.  It doesn't hurt that you're using leeks either, which are delicious in almost everything so long as you rinse the dirt out of them thoroughly.  The longer you can let the meat sit with the seasonings, the more flavorful the product will be.  I recommend more like 1-2 hours in the fridge at least, with the last 45 minutes left out to come closer to room temperature.

Simple, flavorful, rustic.  Not what you think of for Americanized Chinese food.  But really freaking good.

Recipe originally posted here Sept. 2011, updated on second attempt in Jan. 2013. Updated again June 2025 with revised instructions.


Stir-Fried Pork with Leeks (Cong Bao Rou Si)
From Saveur, December 2010

Updated 8/24/13: At the request of a fellow chef, I have doubled the marinade ingredients.

• 10 oz. boneless pork butt, frozen for 20 minutes and cut into 2" x 1/8" strips (thin is good here!)
• 2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
• 2 tsp. dark soy sauce (this is not just dark-colored soy sauce)
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 leek, white and pale green parts only, cut diagonally into 1/4"-thick slices

In a medium bowl, combine the pork, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and half the garlic; let sit for 15 minutes at a minimum, and don't refrigerate again unless you plan to let marinate for a while. After adding the other marinade ingredients, THEN add the sesame oil, otherwise those flavors won’t penetrate as well. And use dark soy sauce, not to be translated as "darkly colored normal soy sauce".  This is soy sauce with sugar or molasses added, which gives it a much sweeter and richer flavor, and also makes it more of a syrup.  It will also lend a much darker color to your finished product, make it so your food burns if you're not careful, and thicken a dish much more than regular soy sauce.

Marinate your pork in dark soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and a few other simple ingredients, and let it hang out.

While the meat is marinating, clean the leeks THOROUGHLY.  Leeks are infamous for hiding dirt in their many layers - I typically cut through the stem enough to get a sprayer in there, but since this recipe wants whole rings, I went a different route.  Just slice off the green tops (maybe the top 1/3 of what's shown below), the bottom 1/4", and then slice into your rings, breaking them apart slightly so the pieces are all loose.  Now rinse the rings, and try to get as much water off as possible.  A salad spinner will come in handy here.


Leeks, soaking in water to clean them out a bit.

This is what you're left with after slicing and rinsing.  When you stir-fry these up, they should cook very quickly because of their thin cut.  Don't overcook them

To prepare, heat a 14" wok over high heat until wok begins to smoke. Add 1 tbsp. oil around the edge of the wok and swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Add the leeks and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer leeks to a plate and set aside.

Time to fry up some leeks

Return wok to high heat and add remaining oil around edge of wok, swirling to coat the bottom and sides. Add the pork mixture and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until the pork is browned, about 2 minutes.  Really look for browning, and make sure the wok isn't too crowded, or you will end up boiling your meat in the juices it releases.  You want enough heat getting to all the meat that it quickly browns before giving up any moisture.  My wok gets hot, but not rocket hot like in a restaurant.  That would have helped even more.  NOTE: if you put the meat in and it sizzles like it's searing, this is good.  But if it starts to get quiet, that is bad.  It means your wok isn't hot enough for the amount of food you put in, which is probably more cold than it is in your average poorly sanitized restaurant kitchen, making things extra hard for you.  So do this - if you suspect that your wok isn't going to get the job done, just stop.  Take everything out, and get the wok as hot as it will get again.  Now add the meat back in, half at a time, and cook until done, setting aside the cooked meat in between.  You won't need to add more oil each time because the oil is still all over the meat.  This is what I did last night, and it worked out great.  Just remember to use all of your senses - sometimes cooking can involve listening just as much as watching.

I cooked the pork in two batches, to make sure it would saute instead of steam.  This gave it a much nicer color, and allowed the sugars in the dark soy to caramelize a bit (the black specks)

Add leeks back to the wok and add the remaining garlic and cook, stirring and tossing often, until just tender, about 1 minute. Don't overcook, or the meat will toughen.

If you want slightly more sauce, mix up another 2 tsp dark soy sauce, maybe 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, and a splash of sesame oil. Turn the heat down to medium to avoid burning this, add this sauce, and toss to combine. I’ve tried adding more cornstarch and broth, but this changes the dish immensely and the feel just isn’t right. Dry is good on this one to get the flavor of the leeks a bit more readily.

Return everything to the wok and toss to combine for a minute or less

Serve immediately, over rice.  Don't get crazy with the condiments, this is meant to be a simple dish

Shrimp in Black Bean Sauce

This recipe is similar to my chicken in black bean sauce, but without the marinating and with a slightly different mix of ingredients a bit more well suited to shellfish.  It's not quite shrimp in lobster sauce, which is coming soon, but it's still a solid sauce, very different from your standard Cantonese-style brown garlic sauce.

Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce
Food.com

• 1/2 lb large shrimp ( shelled, deveined and washed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic oil (or sesame oil)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, well washed and drained
• 1 green onion, sliced thinly, white and green parts separated
• 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine (or sherry or rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
• 1/2 head broccoli, rinsed, cut into florets
• 1/2 can baby corns
• Steamed rice, to serve

• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup seafood stock

Ready your stir-fry ingredients - chop up vegetables, set aromatics aside next to wok, and gather ingredients for the sauce (oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, stock) in a bowl.  Peel and devein shrimp, and have nearby.  Smash the rinsed black beans slightly to form something between a paste and whole beans, similar to the consistency of refried beans.

Get your shrimp cleaned and at the ready

Chop up your ingredients

It helps if you line everything up in the order of use, to avoid confusion

Heat wok over high heat for 30 seconds.  Add garlic oil and coat the wok.   When a wisp of white smoke appears, add garlic, white portion of the green onion, and black beans, then immediately add the broccoli florets.  Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until starting to turn bright green.  Now add the shrimp.  The hotter you can get your wok before adding this, the better.  And keep your stove on high!  You want to cook these guys as fast as possible.  Mix together, then leave alone for about 30 seconds.  Flip them over as best you can, then stir-fry another 30 seconds.  Add wine by drizzling around the edges of the wok, add baby corn, and mix well.

Stir-fry until the shrimp turn pink.  These guys aren't ready to go yet

Once the shrimp begin to curl and turn pink, they're basically done.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Stir the sauce and pour into the center of this well.  Mix to combine all ingredients, and stir while cooking on high for about 90 seconds or less, until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble.

Turn off the heat, and add the minced green onion tops.  Remove to a heated dish, sprinkle with minced coriander and serve.

Duck Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage

After cooking a duck recently, I found myself with approximately half a duck just sitting in the fridge, waiting  to play out the rest of its life in some twisted culinary experiment.  I think it met an admirable fate in the form of this duck fried rice with Napa cabbage, which is a bit different from my usual fried rice recipes in that it had less rice than other ingredients.  The cabbage, although cooked down, gives this dish a nice crunch and slight bitterness, and the whole straw mushrooms keep you guessing about what's in the next mouthful.  And the best part of this dish was the rich duck flavor, imparted not only from the duck meat, but from the duck fat that I cooked this in.  Bottom line, if you cook a duck, SAVE THE DUCK FAT and make this recipe.  I don't care what meat you put in, but trust me, duck fat is like stir-fry gold if used properly.  Let's discuss....

Lots of Napa cabbage brings a great texture and flavor to this dish

Duck Fried Rice with Napa Cabbage
by Tyler Florence, process modified slightly by me

Serves: 4 to 6

• 5 tablespoons duck fat or, if you don't happen to have duck fat (and who's to blame for that?), peanut oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 
• Pinch red pepper flakes 
• 1 small head Napa cabbage, cored and chopped - probably 2 pounds' worth
• 1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, drained and rinsed 
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, run under cool water for 2 minutes to thaw 
• 1 generous pinch kosher salt 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1 pint cooked long-grain white rice 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 cup cooked duck meat, cut in pieces 
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish 

Note the container of duck fat on the right - that's good eatin'!

Another look - duck hasn't been deboned and chopped yet, and the rice has yet to be pre-treated with fat

Heat 2 tablespoons of the fat or oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet over medium-high flame.  Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes; stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.  Add the cabbage, mushrooms, and peas, stir-fry until the cabbage is wilted and soft, about 8 minutes; season with a nice pinch of salt.  Yes, 8 minutes - don't just stir this around - cook it down a bit.  I was worried it would overcook, but it definitely did not.  Remove the vegetables to a side platter and wipe out the wok. 

Stir-fry your aromatics.  Be sure not to skip the shallot!  They're cheap at the Asian grocery stores

Add the cabbage with the mushrooms and peas, and cook for a few minutes

And now, a short aside about rice.  Use leftover rice for this, do not cook it fresh.  If you do, there will be way too much moisture in the rice, and you'll end up with a gummy, squishy mess that nobody wants to eat.  Putting things in the fridge essentially dehydrates them, unless they're in the best of tupperware.  So let your rice go stale in the fridge for a few days, to the point that you wouldn't want to reheat it and it plain.

While the wok reheats, place the rice in a large bowl, take 2 tablespoons of your delicious duck fat, and pour it on the rice.  Break up the rice with your fingers, working the fat into the mess to coat all of the grains with fat.  What this is doing is protecting the rice by creating a moisture barrier and ensuring that it really fries, rather than fries only on the bottom of the wok and steams everywhere else.  You'll use the same amount of oil as the normal recipe, you'll just use it more smartly.  I didn't take pictures here, but I learned this trick from About.com's pineapple fried rice recipe, which I posted and have pictures of here.

Put the pan back on the heat and coat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.  When the oil is hot, pour the eggs into the center of the pan.  Scramble the eggs lightly, then let them set without stirring so they stay in big pieces.  Fold in the rice and toss with the egg to combine well.  Allow the rice to sit for a few seconds, then flip it around; repeat this process for a minute or two to fry up the rice.  After you're satisfied that the rice is now 'fried', add your duck, return the sauteed vegetables to the pan, and moisten all with the soy sauce.  Toss everything together to heat through and season again with salt.  Spoon the fried rice out onto a serving platter, lay the pieces of duck on top, and garnish with cilantro.

Notice the rice isn't at all breaking down, which it used to before I coated grains in oil.  Or sweet, delicious duck fat.