TV Chef and best-selling cookery writer Ching-He Huang serves up this spicy stir fry with pork - the most prized meat in China and a symbol of luck, wealth and fortune. Find more recipes to help you celebrate Chinese New Year in HELLO! out now.
"Pork is the most prized animal in China. It is a symbol of luck, wealth and fortune. In ancient times, your wealth and social status in society was measured by how much pork was served at the family table. This humble stir-fry is spicy and delicious."
Preparation time: 10 minutesCooking time: 5 minutesServes: 2 as a main, or 2-4 to share with other dishes
Ingredients:
For the stir-fry:tbsp groundnut oil2 pieces organic pork loin, sliced thinly on the angle2 small cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated1 large red cayenne chilli, deseeded and sliced200g/7oz baby courgettes, topped and tailed and cut on the angle into 5mm/¼in thick slicesFew punches cracked sea salt
For the Sichuan spicy sauce:50ml/2fl oz cold water1 tbsp chilli bean paste2 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar1 tbsp low-sodium light soy sauce1 tsp soft brown sugar1 tbsp cornflour1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method:
1. Put all the ingredients for the Sichuan spicy sauce into a bowl, mix together and set aside. Season the pork with a pinch of sea salt and dust with a tablespoon of cornflour.
2. Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking then add the groundnut oil.
3. Add the pork slices and stir-fry for less than 1 minute. As they start to turn brown add the garlic, ginger, chilli and the baby courgettes. Keep stirring for 1 minute until the pork is cooked. If the ingredients catch on the side of the work, keep stirring with a wooden spoon and scrape off some of the burnt flavours back into the wok.
4. Once the courgettes have had just under a minute in the wok, add the Sichuan spicy sauce and keep stirring for 1 minute until courgettes have softened and the sauce thickened. Stir in a few pinches of sea salt, give the dish a final stir then serve with steamed rice.
Recipe by Ching-He Huang, a regular on BBC1's Saturday Kitchen and ITV's Lorraine. For more of Ching's recipes, visit chinghehuang.com and youtube.com/user/chinghehuang.
