Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry

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

1. 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.
2. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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

1. Heat the wok until smoking hot. It is the key step to avoid the sticky problem of pork stir-frying.
2.  Avoid cooking cold meat. If you are using frozen meat, make sure it is thawed completely before using it.
3. 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.
4.  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.
5. 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.
6.  Fry the vegetables with the oil left from frying the meat. This can make the vegetables more fragrant because of the infused oil.
7. 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.