HUANG GUA MU’ER (stir fried cucumber with pork and wood ears, for four)

 

a handful of woodear mushrooms (about 4 ounces, after soaking)

4 ounces cucumber

1 spring onion, trimmed

1 Sichuanese pickled chili or ½ fresh red chili

3 ounces lean pork, cut into thin slices

salt

2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine

½ teaspoon potato flour mixed with 1-1/2 teaspoons cold water

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 tablespoon peeled, sliced garlic

1 tablespoon peeled, sliced ginger

light soy sauce, to taste

¼ teaspoon potato flour mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water

 

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1.Pour hot water from the kettle over the mushrooms and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

2. Cut the cucumber section lengthwise into thin slices. Lay these flat on a chopping board and, holding the knife at an angle, cut them into diamond shaped slices. Drain the wood ears and, if they are large, break them into bite-sized pieces. Cut the spring onion and pickled or red chili on the diagonal into “horse ears.”

3. Marinate the pork in a couple of pinches of salt, the Shaoxing wine and ½ teaspoon potato flour mixed with 1-1/2 teaspoons cold water.

4. Heat a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the oil, swirl it around, then add the pork and stir-fry it briefly to separate the pieces. Add the garlic, ginger, pickled or red chili and spring onion and stir-fry briefly until you can smell their fragrances. Then add the cucumber and mushrooms and stir-fry until everything is piping hot.

5. Add 1 tablespoon water, season with a little salt and light soy sauce to taste, then pour in the flour mixture, stirring vigorously as you do so. Stir a couple of times more, then serve.

 

from Fuchsia Dunlop, Every Grain of Rice