Fuchsia Dunlop’s Slivered Pork with Flowering Chives (Jiu Cai Hua Chao Rou Si)

“Think of this as a master recipe for any stir-fry that follows the basic formula of slivered meat plus slivered vegetable,” writes Fuchsia Dunlop in her headnote for this recipe from Land of Fish and Rice, from which this is adapted. (We reviewed the book in August 2020.) She goes on to explain that you can use any meat (“beef, lamb, chicken, pigeon breast, turkey”) in place of the pork, and instead of the flowering chives, you can use another vegetable, or a mixture, or firm tofu. If you’re using chunkier or more watery vegetables, she adds, such as celery, lotus root, snow peas or carrots, they’ll benefit from blanching them before stir-frying to “break up their rawness.”

Flowering chives are the flowering stems of Chinese garlic chives. We often see large bunches of these these in Chinese supermarkets, and had wondering what to do with them. Sometimes they include the flowering tops, but not always; Dunlop has you lop off the buds for this, explaining that you can use them in other dishes, such as omelets. We grabbed a bunch last time we saw this (the ones we see are usually about 7 or 8 ounces), tried this dish and fell in love.

Serves 3 or 4.

Ingredients

4 ounces (100 g) pork tenderloin

1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine

1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce

2 teaspoons potato starch

6 ounces (175 g) flowering chives

3 tablespoons canola or other neutral cooking oil

A few thin slivers of peeled fresh ginger

1/4 red bell pepper, sliced into slivers (optional)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt

Instructions

1. Cut the pork into thin slices and then into thin slivers and place them in a small bowl. Add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, potato starch and 1 tablespoon cold water, and mix well.

2. Remove the flower buds from the ends of the chives (if they’re still attached) and reserve them for another use. Cut the chives into 2 to 2 1/2-inch (5 to 6 cm) lengths.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the pork and stir-fry until just cooked; remove from the wok and set aside. Return the wok to a high heat, and add the remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add the ginger and stir-fry for a moment until it is fragrant; then add the chives and red bell pepper (if using) and stir-fry until piping hot and the chives are just beginning to wilt. Return the pork to the wok and season with salt to taste. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.