Cold Sliced Pork in Szechuan Garlic Sauce
Texans don't get Chinese food. That is to say, as Chinese food is practiced in the United States. By which I mean, the Jewishization of Chinese food à la New York.
When I was growing up in the Lone Star State, we ate Chinese fare about like any other food. We went to a restaurant. (Never called it in, not once.) We may have shared a couple of appetizers, but we each ordered our own dish. And ate it. Maybe we passed a taste around the table. Maybe. But that was considered bad manners, the swapping around of the utensils.
Then I moved to New York. (OK, some other stuff happened in-between. I got married, went to grad school in American lit, moved to Austin, came out, went through a bad divorce, essentially went bankrupt, started writing screenplays, and met Bruce. You know: the usual stuff.) Bruce had a different take on Chinese food. More a free-for-all. You don't got to a restaurant. You call in a bunch of things, put the containers on the coffee table, and dive in. Particularly on Christmas.
Not only does he love take-out, he also makes his own version of Chinese classics. He loves an Asian-inspired buffet, particularly at the holidays: a bunch of dishes, all out on the counter, lots of plates and chopsticks. A feeding frenzy generally ensues.
Last night, we had one such party. I thought people were going to have bitter turf wars over the dumplings in the steamers. He also made one of his classics: this dish of sliced pork in a tangy, pungent sauce. It's perfect for a buffet. I encourage you to think about it for the holidays ahead. Because it's just that good.
By the way, this is one of many pork recipes in our 900-recipe tome, THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK (which you can find here.) So off we go.
Start by trimming the exterior fat off a 3-pound (1 1/3-kilogram) pork loin and then cutting it into two or three sections, whatever will fit in your braising pot or Dutch oven. Tie each piece with butchers' twine to hold its shape as it braises. A few loops along the length should do the trick, as well as one loop that goes end to end. (Note Bruce's fancy tying technique in the top picture. Mine would be far, far more rustic. We Texans have good table manners but shoddy tying abilities.)
Place the loin pieces in said pot and add the following: 8 sliced scallions; one 4-inch (10-cm) piece of peeled fresh ginger, cut into 8 rounds; and 2 teaspoons (14 grams) salt. Fill the pot with water until it covers the pork by a couple of inches or several centimeters.
Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer 40 minutes, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the center of one of the loins registers 165F (75C).
Remove the pot from the stove and set it, covered, in the fridge overnight. (You might consider putting a kitchen towel under the hot pot so it doesn't warp the shelf in the refrigerator.)
Now for the sauce. Mince the green part of 2 more scallions and mix these tiny bits with 6 minced garlic cloves, 6 tablespoons (90 ml) soy sauce, 3 tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil, 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Chinese black vinegar, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Asian chile oil, and 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar. Cover this and set it in the fridge overnight as well.
OK, some adjustments. If you don't want it quite this spicy, reduce the chile oil to 1 tablespoon (15 ml). And if you want the sauce even more garlicky--which is often how Bruce makes it--use up to 10 minced garlic cloves. But it will be powerful--make sure you use enough chile oil to balance all that garlic. And perhaps a little more sugar.
When you're ready to serve it the next day, peel three cucumbers with a vegetable peeler--then continue using that peeler to make long cucumber noodles, peeling down the cucumber on first one side, then another, as long strips fall off, sort of like wide noodles. Gather these into a mound and set them in the center of a platter.
Remove the pork loin pieces from the braising liquid. (Discard that liquid.) Cut off the butchers' twine, then slice the pork loin as thinly as possible. Take your time. Thinner is better. Arrange these slices around the platter. Now brush some of that garlicky sauce over all the slices--and drizzle a little more around the plate. If you want to go over the top, dust the whole platter with some crushed Szechuan peppercorns. And serve at once. Brace for the feeding frenzy.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 9:35AM | in Bruce's Asian Obsession, Hunks of Meat, Main Courses
Reader Comments (8)
From Bruce
I learned to make this dish taking a class in the late '70s taught by Norman Weinstein. No relation, but a Jew nonetheless and an expert on Chinese food. Norman showed us another dish that sent me into vegetarianism for two years. He deep fried a whole duck, feet, bill, and all. Now I would fight you for both the feet and the bill; but at the time I was so horrified by it, I gave up eating animals entirely. What got me back, of course, was Chinese food. I was having take-out with my friend Tara in her apartment on East 39th Street. She ordered sour beans with minced pork - a szechuan classic that i've recreated in our book COOKING FOR TWO. And that was that.
Ok, so this looks just like the dish we order at "authentic" Chinese restaurants! I'd never ever even considered making it at home! Thank you!
PS. Texans have lousy knot-tying skills? How the heck do they rope all that cattle then? ;-)
Well, THIS Texan is no good with knots. Except the ones I can tie a relationship in.
M.
Mark---I just finished making rullepolse (Norwegian meat roll) this afternoon--flank steak split and rolled, stuffed with pork tenderloin, pork sausage, onion, allspice and ginger ) --and I tied it JUST LIKE BRUCE DID!!--and it is now sitting in a brine bath for 48 hours until I cook and chill and slice it thin. Those Chinese pork rolls looked just like mine--I was so startled to see them!! Yum, on all fronts! Here's to knots! Happy holidays to you both.
Ruth A
Ruth: Sounds delightful. And I've never heard of rullepoise. (As you may remember, I'm pretty Norwegian challenged.) I'd so love to try it!
M.
i haven't settled on a plan for our new year's eve party buffet... and this is perfect! i'll plan a menu around this dish - thank you!!!
I grew up with real Chinese food in Houston, the same HK New York stuff. There's a large Asian community there.