Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu (香干肉丝) is a longtime family favorite that everyone at TWOL can agree on when eating out. Even though I cook this dish often at home, we still like splurging on the restaurant version. However, I’d never really taken the time to ponder why until a reader asked me for a version of this dish with more sauce “like how the restaurants do it.”
A Restaurant Version of a Home-cooked Dish
Just like that, I started thinking of all the ways to improve on the recipe that I’ve been cooking all this time. It only took 20 years for the lightbulb to go off!
So I thought it over and realized that restaurants not only make this dish slightly saucy, their bean curd is also softer, and the meat is juicier and more tender.
What I usually do with this stir-fry is cook each ingredient separately, then stir fry them together at the end, especially the pork and the five spice tofu. Thinking back, though, I would always cook them just a little too long, browning them a bit too much. A clear case for less is more!
To improve my old recipe, I also applied my latest discovery of adding water to the meat marinade so the pork is even more tender than if you were to just marinate it with cornstarch.
A Word on Tofu
The tofu (or bean curd) I use for this recipe is pre-cooked five spice tofu. The five-spice version is light brown in color, but there is also a plain version that is light yellow in color.
We have plenty of tofu recipes–Ma Po Tofu, Crispy Tofu Tacos, Beef with Tofu, and Home-Style Stir-Fried Tofu.
But I want to expand and share recipes that use other ready-made soy bean products like this five-spiced bean curd. Hopefully you all enjoyed dishes like our Chinese Tofu Salad and Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Tofu Skin. Because the good news is, I have a few more to share!
Five Spice Tofu with Shredded Pork: Recipe Instructions
Combine the pork with all of the marinade ingredients (cornstarch, water, sugar, Shaoxing wine and light soy sauce) and let stand for 15 minutes.
Preheat the wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and stir-fry the pork until it just turns opaque (i.e. only until it looks cooked––no need to brown it any longer than that). Turn off the heat, remove the pork from the wok, and set aside.
Next, add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok set over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
Then add the carrots, bell peppers, and five spice tofu.
Turn the heat up to high, and stir fry for 1 minute. Next, add the cooked pork, scallions, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon water. Stir and mix everything well. Salt to taste, and serve.
This recipe is so straightforward that I was almost worried that I forgot a step, but it hardly takes any time at all!
