Sichuan Crispy Fried Pork (Xiao Su Rou)

Sichuan Crispy Fried Pork (Xiao Su Rou)

By Chef Cannon

Cuisine: Chinese

Calculation: ### Main ingredient.

Difficulty

3 / 5

★★★☆☆

Intermediate
Estimated Calories

1939 kcal

Ingredients

  • Skinless pork (fat-to-lean ratio to taste)
  • Vegetable oil
  • Mature ginger
  • Scallions
  • Shaoxing cooking wine
  • Salt
  • Thirteen-spice powder
  • Ground pepper
  • MSG
  • Chicken bouillon powder
  • Crushed Sichuan peppercorns
  • Whole Sichuan peppercorns
  • Light soy sauce
  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Sweet potato starch

Steps

Making scallion-ginger water

  1. Shred the ginger; the scallions don't need cutting.
  2. Pour in the cooking wine and water according to the formula.
  3. Squeeze and knead by hand for 5 minutes so the ginger and scallion flavor fully dissolves into the water.

Preparing the pork

  1. Remove the skin from the pork and wash it.
  2. Cut into strips 8-10 cm long and 1.5 cm thick.
  3. Following the formula above, add salt, thirteen-spice powder, ground pepper, MSG, chicken bouillon, crushed Sichuan pepper, whole Sichuan peppercorns and light soy sauce.
  4. Pour in the scallion-ginger water made earlier.
  5. Mix by hand and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes, until the meat absorbs all the liquid and becomes sticky.
  6. Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Coating the pork

  1. Add the flour and sweet potato starch to the marinated meat, then add the egg whites.
  2. Knead thoroughly for 15 minutes.

First fry to set the shape

  1. Pour vegetable oil into the wok; adjust the amount to the wok size so the oil is at least 3 cm deep.
  2. Heat the oil over high heat to 150°C, then turn to low to hold the temperature.
  3. Use chopsticks to place the coated pork strips into the oil, shaping them as you like, and fry for 3-5 minutes to set. When they look lightly golden and feel slightly firm when turned with a spatula, they're ready. The exact time depends on the size of the pieces, oil temperature and coating thickness.
  4. Remove and drain.
  5. Tips: If you're unsure about timing, fry a little longer, otherwise the meat may taste slightly raw. If you're inexperienced, add the strips one at a time to keep them from sticking together.

Second fry for the finished dish

  1. Raise the oil to 180°C, add the first-fried strips and fry until golden, then remove.

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Notes

Xiao su rou is crisp outside and tender inside, savory with the light tingle of Sichuan pepper—a fried home-style snack made in nearly every household in Sichuan and Chongqing. Pork is rich in protein and fat and is high in calories once fried, so it's best as an occasional treat. There are a few more steps than usual and you need to master the first fry to set the shape and the second fry for color, which is a bit challenging for beginners. Expect about 1 hour 30 minutes from start to finish.

Estimated difficulty: ★★★
Estimated calories: 1939 kcal

Calculation:

Main ingredient

  • Pork 500 g

Coating

  • Eggs 2
  • Flour 30 g
  • Sweet potato starch 120 g

Scallion-ginger water

  • Mature ginger 20 g
  • Scallions 15 g
  • Cooking wine 15 g
  • Water 80 g

Marinade seasonings

  • Salt 4 g
  • Thirteen-spice powder 2 g
  • Ground pepper 3 g
  • MSG 5 g
  • Chicken bouillon 5 g
  • Crushed Sichuan pepper 3 g
  • Whole Sichuan peppercorns 3 g
  • Light soy sauce 8 g
  • When coating, be sure to knead the sweet potato starch until no dry lumps are trapped inside, otherwise it will burst in the oil!!!
  • If there's too much meat to finish, fry it only once and refrigerate it. Re-fry it when you eat it later; the texture is basically unaffected.

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Cuisine: Chinese