Mushroom-Flavored Minced Meat

Dripping essence...

Mushroom-Flavored Minced Meat 香菇肉燥
Ingredients:
Minced/ground pork
2tsp dried shrimps , soaked in water, rinsed away water, then minced finely
fresh shitake mushrooms , clean the caps, and cubed to small bits
1 clove garlic-minced finely
half a big onion - chop to small pieces
salt, pepper to taste

Seasoning: soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar
In a separate bowl, mix 1-2tbsp soy sauce and 1-2tsp oyster sauce, 1tsp sugar in about 3-5 tbsp of warm water, till dissolved

Directions:
1. Heat 1tbsp oil in frying pan and fry the minced pork for a while just to slightly cook them. In this process, some "fats" in the pork will be "released" as oil into the pan and can be used to fry the other ingredients. Dish out the partially cooked pork and set aside. (Note: Do not allow the pork to remain in the pan to be cooked and fried with the other ingredients as there is tendency to over-cook pork and it will become rubbery, chewy and tough)
2. Add garlic, onions, dried shrimps and fry till aromatic. Add in mushrooms, mix well. Add in some water. Turn to low heat and allow the mixture to reach simmer.
3. Once small bubbling begins (begin of simmering), add in the pork, 1/2 portion of the seasonings, add more warm water to partially cover the entire mixture(including pork) and maintain low heat and allow entire mixture to simmer. (Note: Since the pork has been pre-fried initially, the low heat cooking at this stage will slowly cook the pork through yet retaining tenderness in the pork since the pork has not been cooked in the higher heat in the frying stage. The low simmering heat + water will actually cook/braise the pork, not the high heat and hot oil!)
4. When starting to simmer, do a taste -test and adjust seasoning accordingly. You can add more of the remaining seasoning and let it simmer a while longer.
5. Best when served with steamed rice.

The best about this dish is I can cook more and keep the leftovers for further consumption (just need to be steamed or re-heated again) the next day, to ladle over steamed rice.


Well, if you like pork, then this...a uber-porky dish you will like. The natural sweetness in the pork, plus those earthy mushrooms, and sweet onions will complement well with the savory seasonings. It's mild but very tasty and definitely whets your appetite when you allow the steamed rice to soak up the nicely combined flavors in the gravy. You can say the essence of flavors is all in the gravy but the pork, mushrooms and onions bits adds a juicy soft texture to your bite. Perfect homemade dish!

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Tag: pork, minced meat, cooking tips