A great classic of Sichuan gastronomy, stir-fried pork kidneys stand out with their wheat-ear cut, crunchy texture and spicy sauce with sharp, fermented notes.
Ingredients
- 700 g whole fresh pork kidneys
- 25 g dried wood ear mushrooms
- 150 g green celery stalks
- 4 pieces scallions
- 5 cloves white garlic cloves
- 25 g fresh ginger
- 50 g pickled Sichuan red chilies (pao jiao)
- 1 tsp red Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 1/2 tbsp Pixian chili bean paste (Pixian doubanjiang)
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine (14% ABV)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
- 1 tsp white cane sugar
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 1 tsp fine table salt
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 3 tbsp liquid chicken broth
- 5 tbsp refined canola oil
Method
- Submerge the dried wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for about fifteen minutes, until they are soft and plump. Drain them, cut off the small hard stem with a knife, and tear the caps into bite-size pieces.
- Place each whole fresh pork kidney flat on the cutting board and slice it in half horizontally. Angle the blade of your sharp knife horizontally to completely excise the spongy white central tissue and renal vessels, leaving no white trace to eliminate any strong flavors.
- Turn the kidney halves rounded side up. Score the outer surface diagonally every two millimeters, at a forty-five degree angle, three-quarters of the way through the flesh without cutting completely through. Then rotate the cutting board ninety degrees and slice perpendicularly: score two shallow grooves, then cut cleanly through on the third groove to detach scored rectangles.
- Quickly rinse the scored kidney pieces under a stream of very cold water, then gently pat them dry between several layers of paper towels to remove all surface moisture.
- Place the thoroughly dried kidneys in a bowl. Add a portion of the Shaoxing cooking wine, fine salt, ground white pepper and a portion of the potato starch. Mix vigorously by hand until a thin, satiny and sticky film uniformly coats every groove, then chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the garnish.
- Slice the green celery stalks on the bias into two-centimeter pieces. Cut the scallions into three-centimeter segments, separating the whites from the greens.
- Finely slice the white garlic cloves and fresh ginger into translucent slivers. Coarsely chop the Pixian chili bean paste and pickled Sichuan red chilies with a knife.
- In a small bowl, combine the liquid chicken broth, light soy sauce, Chinkiang black rice vinegar, white cane sugar, the remaining Shaoxing cooking wine, the remaining ground white pepper and the remaining potato starch. Whisk with a fork to completely dissolve the starch and set this bowl near your wok: the cooking will be so fast that everything must be close at hand.
- Place your wok over your most powerful burner and heat it dry until a wisp of white smoke rises. Pour in the refined canola oil and swirl it around the sides to coat the metal: the oil should be shimmering and very fluid, just at the smoking point.
- Toss the coated kidneys all at once into the scorching hot oil. Stir immediately and vigorously with a spatula for about fifteen seconds: the pieces should instantly curl up on themselves, the grooves spreading out like blooming wheat ears, and the surface turning pale while remaining pearly in the center.
- Push the kidneys to one side of the wok to clear the oil pooled at the bottom. Immediately toss in the Pixian chili bean paste, pickled Sichuan red chilies, red Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and ginger.
- Stir-fry these aromatics over fierce heat for eight seconds until the oil turns a bright glossy red and releases a heady aroma of toasted chilies.
- Fold in the celery pieces, wood ear mushrooms and scallion whites. Stir-fry everything at maximum heat for ten seconds so the vegetables remain crunchy.
- Give the sauce bowl a final stir with a spoon to resuspend the starch, then pour it in a circle along the hot wall of the wok. A violent sizzle should occur immediately.
- Stir-fry the mixture with a broad, continuous motion for five to eight seconds: the sauce should instantly thicken into a glossy glaze that coats every fold of the kidneys.
- Turn off the heat, toss in the scallion greens, give it one last stir with the spatula and plate immediately on a preheated serving dish.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 484.7 kcal
- Protein
- 24.71 g
- Carbohydrate
- 11.85 g
- Fat
- 36.89 g
- Fibre
- 1.77 g
- Calcium
- 19.44 mg
- Iron
- 5.62 mg
- Magnesium
- 35.99 mg
