Easy and homestyle pork and shiitake mushroom stir fry (香菇炒肉片). This is one of the easy meat series. In Chinese cuisine, we love to stir-fry all types of meat (pork, beef, chicken) with seasonal vegetables. You can find we have fresh peppers, wood ear mushrooms, onion, and snow peas. This mushroom pork stir-frying is also a national dish loved by many children. Although no extra spices and herbs are added, the dish is rich in flavor and nutrition. The tender juicy meat with a faint earthy aroma of shiitake mushroom is so appealing. If you are a mushroom lover, do not miss it.
How to prepare shiitake mushrooms
- You can definitely use other types of mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms, and button mushrooms to make this stir-frying dish. The first tip about cooking fresh mushrooms is: don’t soak them in water for cleaning. Fresh mushrooms can absorb water very quickly like a sponge. Soaking them in water will make them become soggy, and you will also lose the original texture. What’s worse the high water content will spoil the dish by making it too watering. So the right step is to remove the dirt parts first and then wrap them with a wet cloth or quickly wash them under running water if feel necessary.
- Then for stir-frying recipes, cut the mushrooms into similar pieces so that they can cook evenly.
How to velvet pork for stir-frying
The most important part of Chinese stir-frying is the marinating process. So let’s learn how to velvet the pork for stir-frying in the right way.
- Cut the pork into pieces with similar thicknesses and then put them into a plate. Add salt, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, and white pepper. Message the pork for a while until the pork becomes slightly sticky in texture. Then add chicken stock or pure water. Continue messaging until the water content is 100% absorbed. I call this method “grasping” because you need to use the hand to grasp the pork slices, then release, and repeat the process to make sure the pork is properly coated with the marinade.
- Then add cornstarch to the pork and mix everything well. Leave it for around 15 minutes or even longer in the fridge if you have time. This preparation can be made at the very beginning. Use cornstarch to form a protecting shell to prevent pork slices from losing
- Then just before stir-frying, add a very small batch of vegetable cooking oil, which can prevent the pork sticky to the bottom of the wok.
7 tips for a perfect mushroom and pork stir fry
- Heat the wok until smoking hot. It is the key step to avoid the sticky problem of pork stir-frying.
- Avoid cooking cold meat. If you are using frozen meat, make sure it is thawed completely before using it.
- Fry in small batches. My favorite amount is no more than 200g. If you are using a wok to fry a large amount of pork, it will lower the temperature of the wok and increase the stir-frying time, making the pork tough and chewy.
- Stir quickly and constantly. Don’t leave the pork in the wok for too long. Stir it quickly and constantly to ensure each pork piece is cooked evenly.
- Transfer the pork slices out at the right time. I recommend transferring the pork slices out as long as the surface becomes faded and white. It is 100% ok to find there is some faint pink color inside the slices based on the following two reasons. Firstly the heat of the pork slices will continue cooking them (后热效应) and secondly, we will recook them with mushrooms later. Will be recooked in wok later. So do not overcook your pork slices. Transfer out as long as they turn pale.
- Fry the vegetables with the oil left from frying the meat. This can make the vegetables more fragrant because of the infused oil.
- Add the meat at the very last end. After adding the pork slice, add all the seasonings and quickly fry for no more than 20 seconds. Long-time stir-frying in this stage may scrape off the protecting starch layer of the pork.
Ingredients needed
- pork butt or tenderloin. Pork butt is my favorite ingredient for stir fry
- salt and pepper: for marinating the pork
- cooking wine helps to remove the raw taste from the pork
- oyster sauce: can be replaced by light soy sauce and sugar. Oyster sauce
- water or chicken stock
- cornstarch is used to velvet the pork by creating a protective shell for the pork slices
- sesame oil
- cooking oil
- shiitake mushrooms or you can use other fresh mushrooms like button mushrooms.
- light soy sauce
- scallions, cut into small sections white part and green part separated.
- cloves and ginger: common aromatics used in stir frying dish
Instructions
Prepare
- 1. Thinly slice the pork. Add salt, cooking wine, oyster sauce, and white pepper. Message for a while. Add water or stock. Grasp the pork slice for 2-3 minutes until all the juice is well absorbed. Then add cornstarch and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes. Mix around 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable cooking oil just before stir frying.
- 2. Prepare the shiitake mushrooms: remove the roots and quickly wash the mushroom under running water if you feel necessary. Don’t soak the mushrooms in water. Then slice evenly.
Stir fry
Heat your wok or pan until very hot first. Add cooking oil to form a 2-3 cm high layer (do not be scared by the oil amount, we do not eat them all). Spread the pork sliced in when the oil is warm but not very hot. Let them stay for around 3-5 seconds and then quickly fry them until turns pale. Transfer out immediately.
It is 100% ok to find there is some faint pink color inside the slices based on the following two reasons. Firstly the heat of the pork slices will continue cooking them (后热效应) and secondly, they will be recooked in a wok later. So do not overcook your pork slices. Transfer out as long as they turn pale.
Remove the extra oil and save them for vegetable stir-fries. Keep around 1 tablespoon of oil and fry garlic, ginger, and scallion until aromatic. Place shiitake mushroom in, and add oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Fry for around 30 seconds until the shiitake mushrooms are just cooked.
Return pork slices and scallion section. Mix well and serve hot!
The pork is so tender and juicy with a strong aroma from shiitake mushrooms.
Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 200 g pork butt or tenderloin , thinly sliced
Marinating
- 1/4 tsp. salt , optional (you can skip this for a less salted dish)
- 1/2 tbsp. cooking wine
- 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp. water or chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp. white pepper
- 3 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Stir fry
- cooking oil as needed
- 1/2 thumb ginger ,skin removed and sliced
- 1 garlic cloves ,sliced
- 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms ,remove the roots and sliced
- 4 scallions ,cut into small sections white part and green part separated
- 1/2 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1/2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sesame oil , optional
Instructions
- Thinly slice the pork. Add salt (or skip the salt if you want a less salted dish), Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, and white pepper. Mix well.
- Add water or stock in. Grasp the pork slice for 2-3 minutes until all the juice is well absorbed, then add cornstarch. Set aside for 15minutes. Mix in around 1/2 tablespoon of vegetable cooking just before frying.
- Heat your wok or pan first. Add cooking oil to form a 2-3 cm high layer (do not be scared by the oil amount, we do not eat them all). Spread the pork sliced in when the oil begins to warm but not hot. Let them stay for around 3-5 seconds and then quickly fry them until turns pale. Transfer out immediately.
- Remove the extra oil and save them for vegetable stir fries. Keep around 1 tablespoon of oil and fry garlic, ginger and scallion until aromatic. Place shiitake mushroom in, add oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Fry for around 30 seconds until the shiitake mushrooms are just cooked.
- Return pork and add scallion sections, drizzle sesame oil. Quickly mix well and transfer out. Serve hot!
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Elaine,
I’m sorry, but don’t quite understand “f you prefer a better shape of the dish, pork tenderloin is a better choice”.
Does that mean that it looks nicer?
Yes, Andreas.
You can cut beautiful and tidy slices with tenderloin. But with butt, the slices are atypical.
Thank you for your answer Elaine. I tried this yesterday using pork butt and it turned out great!
Haha, you get it, Andreas. Opened the door of tenderest stir-fry dishes only with the help of marinating. Happy cooking!
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for the recipe. I made it for dinner tonight and it was a big hit! my picky eater 5 yr old liked it even!!
I’ve been visiting your website, but leaving comments for the first time here. I followed the recipe to the T and it all worked out!.
Thanks again and looking forward to trying out many more.
Thanks Ria. My 5 years old daughter loves this very much too as it is savory, delicious and most importantly not spicy. Happy cooking and I hope you love other recipes on the site too.
I don’t understand what you mean by grasp. Could you please explain?
Hi Peter,
see the Comment section on “Pork Stir Fry with Black Bean Sauce” where this was discussed. But as they say “a picture is worth more than a thousand words” maybe Elaine at some point could find the time to provide a video showing how it’s done. It’s probably just a question of how nice we ask her 🙂
Thanks for replying but I’m none the wiser. If by grasp Elaine means seize and hold firmly (the dictionary definition) then I wonder how the juices will be absorbed as this will surely squeeze them out.
I do note that Elaine has answered questions posted after mine, so I wonder why she has missed my one. I’m sure like many of her other recipes it will be excellent but I would like to get over what has to be done when she says grasp the meat!
Apologies, I’ve just seen the discussion at the end. I’ll try the methods based on Andreas’s reply soon.
This method will also explain why much less marinade is made for many Chinese recipes.
Thanks for your help.
DonI also dont know what is meant by grasping AS NOT A WORD USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH FOOD PREPERATION t understand what you mean by grasping
What difference will it make if I used re-constituted dried shiitakes?
Ann,
I do not recommend using dried shiitake mushrooms for stir frying dishes. On one hand, they do not taste so fresh and good with stir-frying. They are prefect ingredients for stews and soups. Secondly, too much dried shiitake will change the flavors too.
The word “grasping” would be the wrong term to use. I believe it would be better to say “massage” the pork. That would make more sense, in my opinion. When you grasp something you are holding very tightly to it in an almost desperate measure. What you are doing to the pork in the recipe is massaging it to incorporate the marinade. I’m half Asian and do this in a lot of recipes when you use a less tender cut of meat.
Liz,
Thanks for your suggestion. But I believe message is not the right word too, since the direction of the motion is not the same. I will try to post a gif, showing this process and avoid using descriptive words. Thank you!
The Pork and Mushroom stir fry is a very flavorefull recipe. I used Pork tenderloin for the tenderness of the cut. I thought it was a bit salty flavored. Easy and fast for a quick delicious dinner.
Thanks Kasha.
Both light soy sauce and oyster sauce have a level of saltness. I have already updated your information in notes. Thanks!
I was passed the link to this recipe by a friend, and WOW! It’s a taste sensation! Thank you for sharing. Even my kids willingly ate mushrooms 🙂
I am so happy that you find the hidden star, Caraway! It is so humble and delicious.
This Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry looks SO deliciously good. I wish I could eat that right now!
Thanks Maggie!
This dish was amazing. Very important to follow exact instructions on the pork. I used an assortment of mushrooms including shitake. I also added broccolini after blanching in boiling water.
I will definitely add this to my all time best dishes.
Thanks Dave for the feedback. As long as you master how to tenderize the pork, most of vegetables can work fine with this.
Even after reading the comments I do not get the ‘grasp’ technique.
Would you mind clarifying what ‘grasping’ is in relation to this dish and the effect it imparts on the marinade process?
Thanks!
It will make the sauce well attached to the pork slices, which is quite important for tender meat in the stir-frying process. I will make a short gif or video soon.