Hibiscus Pork (Fu Rong Rou)

Ingredients

• 1 catty (approx. 600g) lean pork
• light soy sauce (生抽)
• 40 pieces large shrimp meat
• 2 liang (approx. 75g) pork lard (豬油)
• 0.5 catty (approx. 300ml) vegetable oil (菜油)
• 0.5 wine cup autumn-pressed soy sauce (秋油)
• 1 wine cup Shaoxing wine (or rice wine)
• 1 tea cup chicken stock (雞湯)
• potato starch powder (蒸粉)
• scallion (蔥)
• white pepper (椒)

Instructions

1. Slice the lean pork and coat lightly with light soy sauce (清醬). Allow to air-dry for one hour.
2. Layer the pork slices with shrimp meat: place one piece of shrimp on one slice of pork, alternating. Add small dice of pork lard between the layers. Gently flatten each pork-and-shrimp pair with the back of a knife.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and cook the assembled pork pieces until just cooked through. Remove carefully with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a wok until very hot. Place the pork slices in a flat bronze or iron ladle (or use a shallow pan) and pour the hot oil over them to seal and lightly fry.
5. In a separate pot, combine autumn-pressed soy sauce (秋油), Shaoxing wine, and chicken stock. Bring to a rolling boil. Pour this braising liquid over the pork slices.
6. Transfer the pork to a serving dish. Garnish with potato starch powder, sliced scallion, and white pepper. Serve immediately.