Crispy Pork Recipe (Sichuan Style)

Today we are making 小酥肉, translated as little crunchy bites of pork. What’s special about it is that it comes with an aromatic dipping spicy powder, which is like a bomb of flavors. You got to give it a try because It brings any crunchy goods to another level.

INGREDIENTS
To marinate the pork
500 g 1.1 lb of pork shoulder
1 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tsp of minced ginger
1 tsp of salt

To make the dipping spice powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar

To make the batter
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 whole egg
80-90 grams of water

Instructions
Cut 500 grams of pork shoulder bite-size strips. Besides the pork shoulder, this dish can be made with pork belly, pork loin, and short pork rib.

Marinade the pork with garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, Chinese cooking wine, salt, soy sauce, and baking soda. Mix well and let it sit for 30 minutes.

During this time we will make the aromatic spice powder or what we called 蘸料, which is something like a dry rub but you serve it as a dipping component for crunchy stuff.

Roast the red dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, white peppercorns, sesame seed, cumin seeds, and dried orange peel in a wok over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes. Remove from the wok and let it cool. Grind all the spices into a fine powder. Mix with salt, and sugar. Roast more sesame seeds, and cumin seeds. Keep them whole. Mix into the spice powder and set it aside.

In a big mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, sweet potato starch, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, egg, water, and 25g of vegetable oil. Mix until smooth. If you don’t have sweet potato starch, you can use potato starch or tapioca starch

Combine the batter with the pork and mix thoroughly.

Bring the oil to 370 F. Add the pork piece by piece and fry over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Stir constantly to ensure even cooking. This is the first frying. We are just trying to cook the pork through. It doesn’t need to be golden brown. When you see they don’t bubble viciously anymore, you can take them out

Once you finished all the pork, let it rest for 20 minutes and we will double fry it later to reinforce the crust.

For the double frying, we will bring the oil to 400 F and fry the pork for 2-3 minutes. When the outside becomes golden and crispy, you can remove them. Use some pepper towels to absorb the excess grease. Serve with the spice powder.

Souped Up Tips: Once you finish the first frying, you can freeze it for future use. Whenever you want to eat them again, don't even need to defrost, just directly double fry and it will be ready right away.

[blatinobear]

I love her reactions when trying the final dishes at the end, she doesn’t have to say anything but we just know it came out delicious

[MintyFarts]

🤤 omg I LOVE Sichuan style foods!this looks better than any thing anyone made for the superbowl.

[sixstringedthing]

This looks fantastic! The spice powder sounds awesome, a bit like a Chinese version of middle-eastern Dukkah (although that's really more of a spiced crushed nut mixture than a spice powder). And Mandy's enthusiasm is charming as always!

[semco]

The pork strips does look so delicious cooked up in the wok and I have to try making them and see how they turn out. You are such a great chef and can make anything Chinese and your family is so fortunate to have you in their lives.

[atruth]

CONGRATULATIONS CHEF MANDY!! 1, 000, 000 + people more loving your restaurant of knowledge here on YouTube. Congratulations again, and much success with your Wok Mandy.

Happy day cooking your way 🦋🥗🎨🥗🦋

[elinoirsmythe]

The crunch when you bit into it sounded incredible!

[madonnago]

Love your way of giving a detailed instruction, Mandy

[Briguy]

I enjoyed hearing the crunch when you bit into your first piece.

[digitalclips]

Just made it for dinner. I used tenderloin. Fantastic batter!

[Toriana_Shavon_LaVannah_Blade]

Yeah, dipping rub sounds weirdly DELICIOUS 😋 I am making this tomorrow!!

Thank you for your time and effort and delicious recipes!!

Cheers from Texas, USA 🇺🇸

[ireneamaru]

Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I'm a fan of your channel and pork recipe.

[sunraiii]

The moment I heard the crunch when biting into it, saliva started pooling in my mouth. Looks so good!!

[luismelianilo]

i just tried this today....the dipping spice is heavenly! very delicious! this is one of my fav seasoning mixture. Thanks for sharing!

[mariap]

It looks like another great recipe! Feel well Mandy. Also, I really enjoy when you speak in your natural language when you name the foods.

[JimmyLee]

I have to try this soon. Also my Bride gave me one of your woks for Christmas and I have been enjoying it, very much. Now I have a good reason to stir fry, at least once a week. Thanks for the awesome recipes and lessons.

[damon]

Always happy to see a new recipe on your wonderful channel! Thank you!

[onetime]

New subscriber ! I am so HAPPY that I found your channel, you are WONDERFUL ! THANK YOU ! 🌺. ❤️ 🙏

[MrFancyFingers]

I know what I’m making this weekend! Thanks Mandy!!

[bonbons]

you have now convinced me to finally acquire a spice grinder

[GeofDumas]

I love love love any recipe that can be frozen like this