Black Pepper Sauce Kurobuta Pork Chow Mein (黑椒汁豬肉炒麵, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Zyu1 Juk6 Caau2 Min6)

Here’s another recipe using Kurobuta (aka Berkshire) pork, which is a heritage breed with more flavor. The last recipes to use Kurobuta pork were made with spareribs in a clay pot: Clay Pot Black Bean Sauce Kurobuta Pork Spareribs (砂煲豆豉豬排骨, Saa¹ Bou¹ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Zyu¹ Paai⁴ Gwat¹) and Clay Pot Basil Pork Sparerib and Fish Ball (砂煲紫蘇魚蛋豬排骨, Saa¹ Bou¹ Zi² Sou¹ Jyu⁴ Daan⁶ Zyu¹ Paai⁴ Gwat¹). This recipe uses thinly sliced Kurobuta pork butt in a stir fry noodle dish. Regular pork butt sliced thinly can be used if Kurobuta is not available at your local Asian market.

I was asked recently about making the dishes found on this blog when a particular manufacturer’s brand was specified in the recipe. If you notice in the ingredient list where a brand is specified, I specify a brand and add the words “or equivalent”. For this recipe, I’ve specified Lee Kum Kee’s brand of Black Pepper Sauce. Lee Kum Kee is not the only manufacturer of Black Pepper Sauce, so while it is the brand I use, feel free to substitute another manufacturer’s Black Pepper Sauce (which would be the “or equivalent) that’s easily available to you. Adapt your recipe to use the local ingredients and brands, and don’t worry about using the exact brand specified.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Thinly sliced Kurobuta or regular pork butt (豬肉, zyu1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1	1	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide strips
1	1	Green bell pepper (青椒, ceng1 ziu1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide strips
2-3	2-3	Cabbage leaves (青椰菜, ceng1 je4 coi3), cut into ½-inch pieces
7.4 oz.	210 g.	One 15 oz. (425 g.) can peeled straw mushrooms (草菇, cou2 gu1), drained
10.5 oz.	297 g.	One 20 oz. (566 g.) can bamboo shoot strips (筍, seon2), drained, or use fresh if available
12 oz.	350 g.	Bean sprouts (芽菜, ngaa4 coi3)
8 oz.	227 g.	One package fried tofu (油炸豆腐, jau4 zaa3 dau6 fu6)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 lb.	454 g.	One package chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Black Pepper Sauce (黑椒汁, hak1 ziu1 zap1) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Lee Kum Kee Brand
Black Pepper Sauce
(黑椒汁, hak1 ziu1 zap1)

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the thinly sliced Kurobuta pork or pork butt meat by cutting into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide pieces. Baking soda is not needed to tenderize the meat because the meat is of such high quality and because it’s sliced so thinly.
2. Marinate the pork in a covered container for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the pork overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Wash and cut the red and green bell pepper into 1- (2.5 cm.) x 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. First cut off the ends of the bell pepper, leaving an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and central core of the bell pepper and make one cut lengthwise to open the cylinder. Flatten the open bell pepper cylinder and cut 1- (2.5 cm.) wide by 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
4. Wash and cut the cabbage leaves into ½-inch (15 mm) strips. The number of leaves to use depends upon the size of the cabbage leaves and personal preference. The cabbage provides a texture contrast to the dish.
5. Open and drain the can with the peeled straw mushrooms.
6. Open and drain the can with the bamboo shoots, or use fresh if available (wash first). Remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
7. Wash the bean sprouts and remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
8. Open the fried tofu package and discard any liquid.
9. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
10. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.
11. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Pepper Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. If using dried noodles, cook according to the instructions on the package until the noodles just become al dente, drain the noodles, and set aside. If using thawed, ready-made, or fresh noodles, “fluff” to separate the individual noodles (i.e. you don’t want put a single mass of noodles into the wok).
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the pork pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the pork in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the pork to a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the straw mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the pork.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the fried tofu. Stir fry the fried tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the pork.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the cabbage leaves. Stir fry the cabbage and then transfer to the bowl with the pork.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bell pepper pieces. Stir fry to brown the bell pepper. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Transfer the contents of the wok to the bowl with the pork.
7. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bamboo shoots. Stir fry the bamboo shoots and then transfer to the bowl with the pork.
8. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bean sprouts. Stir fry the bean sprouts and then transfer to the bowl with the pork.
9. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add some liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing wine; but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone. You want the noodles to get burned before adding more oil to the noodles and turning them over, repeating the process.
10. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the pork back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.