'Three Chops': Pork, chili, and [some color] Stir Fry

A fantastic stir fry of (1) minced pork (2) chili pepper and... (3) some other thing.

0:00 - The three chops of Yunnan
0:54 - Any way to skip the hand mince?
2:28 - Hand mincing technique
5:14 - Red Three Chops
8:11 - Black Three Chops
9:42 - White Three Chops
10:45 - Possible shortcut? Use free labor

HONGSANDUO

* Pork Belly () or Boston Butt () or a combination, 250g
* Marinade:
Salt, tsp
Sichuan Pepper Powder, tsp
White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp
Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp
Soy sauce (), tsp
Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (/), tsp
* Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, , ), 100g
* Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional
* Ginger, ~ inch, minced
* Tomato, ~2 medium, 250g
* Baijiu () -or- Shaoxing wine (/), 1 tbsp. For frying
* Soy sauce (), tbsp. For frying
* Seasoning:
Salt, tsp
Sugar, tsp
MSG (), tsp
* Water, 2 tbsp

Hand mince the pork according to the video (or use ground pork if you prefer at least 15% fat). Mix with the marinade and set aside.

Dice the chili into ~1cm pieces and the tomato into ~1/2 inch chunks. Slice the spicy chilis, if using, and mince the ginger. Set aside.

In a wok with about 4-5 tbsp of oil, fry the pork over a medium low flame and begin to break it up. Once its no longer one big meatball, swap the flame to medium-high and fry until the fats started to render out and the pork is just beginning to brown, ~5 minutes. Remove, and I like to do so with a strainer to let the excess oil drip off. You will likely be looking at ~1/3 cup of oil in your wok, so scoop out the extra, leaving ~3 tablespoons remaining to stir fry.

No need to wash the wok. Over a high flame, add the tomatoes. Once theyve started to release a touch of their liquid, add the ginger and the spicy chilis and fry until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add back in the pork, then swirl in the wine. Mix, then add the chilis. Fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in the soy sauce. Mix, and season. Optionally add the water if youd like it saucier.

HEISANDUO

Note: in the video, we recommended subbing the datoucai with either Meicai () or Hunan Grandmother vegetable ().

If you can get the fresh Meicai, it will work as a direct substitute. I believe many supermarkets abroad would carry it, but all I could find online was the dried version (). If using the dried version, youll need to reconstitute it first roughly three hours if soaking with cool water, one hour if soaking with hot water.

For the Hunan grandmother vegetable, instead of the ~1 minute fry at the beginning of the stir fry, youll want to fry it for ~3 minutes in order to get out the sourness of the pickle.

I (Chris) also think you could sub with Sichuan Yacai, but Steph disagreed.

* Pork Belly () or Boston Butt () or a combination, 250g
* Marinade:
Salt, tsp
Sichuan Pepper Powder, tsp
White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp
Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp
Soy sauce (), tsp
Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (/), tsp
* Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, , ), 100g
* Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional
* Ginger, ~ inch, minced
* Datoucai () -or- alternative Chinese dried and fermented vegetable (see note), 125g
* Baijiu () -or- Shaoxing wine (), 1 tbsp. For frying
* Soy sauce (), tbsp. For frying
* Seasoning:
Sugar, tsp
MSG (), tsp

Process is roughly the same as above.

Working with the Datoucai, first rinse off the salt, then finely mince. Blanch for 30 seconds.

BAISANDUO

* Pork Belly () or Boston Butt () or a combination, 250g
* Marinade:
Salt, tsp
Sichuan Pepper Powder, tsp
White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp
Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp
Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (/), tsp
* Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, , ), 100g
* Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional
* Ginger, ~ inch, minced
* Salted eggs, 3
* Baijiu () -or- Shaoxing wine (), 1 tbsp. For frying
* Soy sauce (), tbsp. For frying
* Seasoning:
Sugar, tsp
MSG (), tsp

Process is roughly the same as above, though when stir-frying the salted eggs youll want to move on as soon as its *just* started to want to emulsify with the frying oil.
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Outro Music: by
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg