Sichuan-style Pork Stew Heats Up Wintry Days; Offers Refreshing Spiciness, Flavor

By Ryo Kato / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:58 JST, February 6, 2025

Cookery specialist Ryo Imai offers a recipe for the winter season: Sichuan-style pork stew. It features meat and vegetables aplenty, mixing them with the spicy flavors of togarashi chili pepper and Sichuan pepper.

At Chinese restaurants, the dish is called Shui Zhu Rou Pian. The hot stew is one of the most popular dishes of Sichuan cuisine.

“Restaurants sometimes use beef, but this time we’ll use pork, which is relatively cheap,” Imai said.

The stew can be made with pieces of thinly sliced pork, too, but this time thicker slices typically used for ginger pork add some chunkiness to the dish. Coat the pieces of pork with katakuriko potato starch, which will work as a thin batter. Covering the meat in starch softens it.

Stir-fry the cabbage and other ingredients before stewing them so they produce a fragrant and savory flavor. Doubanjiang chili bean paste is usually added to the stew, but this recipe omits it so the spiciness of the dish can be easily adjusted later if necessary. When placing the pieces of pork in the pan, be careful not to place them on top of each other. Since the pieces are covered with potato starch, they tend to stick together if placed on top of each other.

After the meal is plated, sprinkle plenty of coarsely ground togarashi chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorns on it. To finish up, pour heated oil over the food. Make sure the oil doesn’t splash.

“Pouring oil at a high temperature is like momentarily adding fire to the food. The oil enhances the refreshing spiciness and flavor,” Imai said. “At restaurants, this dish is made very spicy, but please adjust it to your liking at home.”

The food is covered with a thin layer of oil. Using a spoon to scoop up a bite releases steam and a pleasant aroma. The spices, plump pork and crispy vegetables go well together and warm your body from the inside.

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Negi green onion oil

The green part of negi green onions is sometimes discarded during cooking, but it can be used to make negi green onion oil.

Cut the green part of the negi green onion into 2-centimeter-long pieces. Place the pieces and one cup of oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Stir the oil occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes until the pieces are nicely colored. Strain the oil with a colander and, when it has cooled down, put it in a clean empty bottle or other container for storage. The oil can be kept at room temperature for about a month. It goes well with ramen and stir-fry dishes.

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Sichuan-style pork stew

Ingredients (serves 2):

150 grams pork loin (thickly sliced)

150 grams cabbage

½ pack shimeji mushrooms

¼ negi green onion

1 clove garlic (finely chopped)

1 piece ginger (finely chopped)

1 tsp chicken soup stock powder

1 tbsp coarsely ground togarashi chili pepper

1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns

Directions:



1. Cut each pork loin slice into four pieces. Sprinkle salt lightly on the pork, then coat the pieces with 1 tablespoon of potato starch.

2. Coarsely chop the cabbage. Remove the base of the shimeji mushrooms and split them into smaller pieces. Thinly slice the negi green onion diagonally.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Quickly stir-fry the garlic and ginger. When they produce a nice smell, add the cabbage, shimeji mushrooms and negi green onion to the pan. Stir-fry them until they are softened.



4. Add 1½ cups of water, 1½ tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of cooking sake, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of chicken soup stock powder to the pan. Heat the mixture and when it comes to a boil, turn down the heat to low. Spread out the pieces of pork on top of the vegetables. Make sure they are not touching each other. Cook the pork for two to three minutes while flipping the pieces. When they are thoroughly cooked, briefly turn up the heat and mix the ingredients before serving on a plate.

5. Sprinkle the ground togarashi chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorns on the dish. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pan and quickly pour it on the dish.