Fish flavoured sliced pork from Melbourne

Yuxiang shredded pork (; sometimes translated as fish-flavored pork slices, or more vaguely as shredded pork with garlic sauce) is a common dish in Sichuan cuisine.

Yuxiang Yuxiang () is a famous seasoning mixture in Chinese cuisine, and also refers to the resulting sauce in which meat or vegetables are cooked. It is said to have originated in Sichuan cuisine, and has since spread to other regional Chinese cuisin ...

is one of the main traditional flavors in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

History

Hostess theory

One day, while cooking dinner, it is said that a hostess who had just finished cooking fish poured the fish seasoning into a different pot, in which pork was already being made. When h husband came home from work, so hungry that he started eating immediately, He began to impatiently ask his wife how it had been made. After her husband's repeated questioning, she finally relayed what happened, and this unintentional innovation eventually spread.

War theory

Some people say that

shredded pork is an innovative dish in modern China, because 1,328 Sichuan-style dishes were included in the "Chengdu Overview" published in 1909, but there was no Yuxiang shredded pork. Moreover, the name "Yuxiang Shredded Pork" was named after Chiang Kai-shek's chef during the Anti-Japanese War. Due to the shortage of materials during the war, many ingredients were also replaced with cheap ingredients, but the dishes were sweet, spicy, salty and fresh, so they were called "

pork shreds".

Characteristics

Yuxiang (sometimes translated as "fish flavor") is made of pao la jiao (泡椒 'Sichuan pickled chili pepper'), chuan seasoning salt, soy sauce (regular light),

white sugar White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process. Description The refining process completely removes ...

, bruised ginger, garlic and green star but no fish. This seasoning has nothing to do with fish, instead imitating the seasoning and method that people in

use when cooking fish. The seasoning contains salty, sweet, sour, hot, and fresh tastes, making the food more delicious.

Preparation

In order to make Yuxiang Shredded Pork, some raw ingredients are indispensable.

Main raw materials

Pork water,

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

, ginger, garlic,

pickled pepper A pickled pepper is a Capsicum, ''Capsicum'' pepper preserved by pickling, which usually involves submersion in a brine of vinegar and salted water with herbs and spices, often including black pepper, peppercorns, coriander, dill, and bay leaf. C ...

sugar, salt, oil, cooking wine, soy sauce.

Variation

Ingredients

With increase of life quality, people add different ingredients into Yuxiang Shredded Pork to make more delicious, such as black fungus, carrots, etc. However, no matter what kind of changes make to this dishes. Its major ingredient is

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

. People select and use thirty percent fat and seventy percent lean pork, shredding and frying, which can make the food softer.

Various Dishes of Yuxiang

With the improvement of people's living standards and the acceptance of fish-flavored taste gradually improved, the Yuxiang Shredded Pork was spread over different part of China. People in different regions also made different innovations in

dishes, according to their eating habits and regional characteristics. Other dishes using

have also appeared, for example, as Yuxiang Pork Liver, Yuxiang Eggplant, and Yuxiang Three Silk (pork silk, Tofu silk, green pepper silk). (). File:WechatIMG418.png File:WechatIMG419.png File:WechatIMG420.png

Gallery

File:Stir fried pork shreds with chilli sauce.jpg File:WechatIMG415.png File:WechatIMG416.png File:WechatIMG417.png File:WechatIMG414.png File:Yuxiangrousi (魚香肉絲) in K817 dining car.JPG File:Fish-flavoured shredded pork at Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant Shangdi (20190808185406).jpg File:Fish-flavoured shredded pork set meal on G2 (20180102114223).jpg

References

{{Reflist

External links

Example of video recipe
Sichuan cuisine Chinese pork dishes