Spicy Shredded Meat 鱼香肉丝

Spicy Shredded Meat is a Sichuan dish.  In Chinese is “Yu Xiang,” (鱼香), which literally means “fish fragrance,” or “fish flavor.”  but there is no fish in this dish.  Shredded meat is used instead.  This is a versatile sauce as beef or eggplant can be used too.

There is a story behind the '"Yu Xian" sauce.
A housewife wanted to cook fish for her husband but discovered that there was no fish at home.  Since there was some sauce which was used for cooking fish left, she decided to use the sauce to cook several other foods.  Her husband liked the dishes she cooked with the sauce.  Gradually, her neighbours knew and learnt this cooking method and hence "Yu Xiang" became a popular delicious cuisine.

Ingredients

1)  200g shredded pork
2)  1 cup black fungus (shredded)
3)  1 stalk celery (shredded)
4)  1 carrot  (shredded)

Marinate for pork
1)  1 tbsp light soy sauce
2)  1 tbsp wine
3)  1 tbsp water
4)  1 tbsp cornstarch

Sauce for pork (1)
1)  1 tbsp minced green onion
2)  1 tbsp minced ginger
3)  1 tbsp garlic
4)  1/2 to 1 tbsp. hot bean paste

Sauce (2)
1)  2 tbsp. light soy sauce and water
2)  1/2 tbsp sugar and wine
3)  1 tsp vinegar and cornstarch


Method
1.  Marinate pork with light soy sauce, wine, water and cornstarch.
2.  Stir-fry shredded pork until cooked and set aside.
2.  Stir-fry black fungus, celery and carrot and set aside.
3.  Cook green onion, ginger, garlic and hot bean paste until fragrant.
4.  Add shredded pork, wood ears, celery and carrot to the wok and mix well.
5.  Finally, pour sauce (2) and mix well before serving.  Make sure all the ingredients are coated with sauce.