Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients

• Green chili peppers (6-8; choose straight, thick-fleshed ones, not bell peppers)
• Pork (250 g; front shoulder with a 3:7 fat-to-lean ratio is best)
• Scallions (2)
• Ginger (1 small piece)
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Salt
• Cooking oil
• Starch (optional, for coating the inside of the peppers to prevent sticking and for thickening the sauce)
• Garlic (optional, 3-4 cloves)
• Oyster sauce (optional)
• Cooking wine (optional)
• Egg (optional)
• White pepper (optional)
• White sugar (optional)

Steps

Prepare the filling

1. Wash the pork and chop it into mince (or use a meat grinder); mince the ginger and chop the scallions
2. Add the minced ginger, chopped scallion, 15 ml light soy sauce, 5 ml dark soy sauce and 3 g salt to the pork and mix well
3. Optionally add: 10 ml cooking wine, 10 ml oyster sauce, 1 egg, 5 g starch, 2 g white pepper, 5 g sugar
4. Stir the filling in one direction until sticky and springy, then marinate for 10 minutes

Prepare the peppers

5. Wash the peppers, remove the stems, and carefully scoop out the seeds and white ribs with chopsticks, keeping the peppers whole
6. Optionally sprinkle about 5 g dry starch inside the peppers and shake to coat evenly; this helps the filling stick and not fall out

Stuff the peppers

7. Use chopsticks or a piping bag to push the marinated filling into the peppers, filling them as fully as possible but not too tightly, so they don't burst
8. Set aside once all are stuffed

Make the sauce

9. In a bowl, mix 15 ml light soy sauce, 5 ml dark soy sauce and 100 ml water
10. Optionally add 5 g starch for a thicker sauce

Pan-fry and braise

11. Heat the wok, add 30 ml oil, and when the oil is medium-hot put in the stuffed peppers (meat side down first)
12. Fry slowly over medium-low heat, turning so every side blisters and wrinkles into a "tiger skin" look, then remove and set aside
13. Leave some oil in the wok and optionally fry minced garlic until fragrant
14. Pour in the sauce, bring to a boil, then add the fried peppers
15. Turn to medium-low heat, cover and braise for 5-8 minutes until the sauce thickens and the peppers soften
16. Uncover, turn the heat up and reduce until the glossy sauce coats the peppers, then plate

Shrimp paste variation

17. Shrimp-paste-stuffed peppers are also common in Guangxi; it's an authentic way to eat them, not a hack~
18. Devein 250 g shrimp and smash them into a paste with the back of a knife (keep some texture for a better bite, or just buy ready-made shrimp paste in a triangular piping bag and squeeze it straight in)
19. Season the shrimp paste: 5 g minced ginger, 2 g salt, 5 g starch, 10 ml light soy sauce
20. Optionally add: 5 ml cooking wine, 1 g white pepper, half an egg white
21. Stir in one direction until springy, then marinate for 10 minutes
22. The stuffing, frying and braising steps are the same as for the pork version
23. Shrimp paste cooks quickly, so the braising time can be shortened to 4-5 minutes