October 3, 2021

Yuxiang Pork (鱼香肉丝 yú xiāng ròu sī) is a very popular dish in China. Yuxiang (鱼香 yú xiāng) here literally means “fish flavoured”. It has a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and spiciness, and that makes it pair well with rice. The story says, Yuxiang Pork was originally created by a housewife in Sichuan province. The family loved eating fish. One day, the housewife got creative and used some of the leftover ingredients from their fish-based meals for other dishes. The taste was surprisingly good, and because the dish was cooked with ingredients normally used with fish dishes, the type of dish has been called “fish flavoured – Yuxiang (鱼香 yú xiāng)” ever since.

Yuxiang Pork has been one of my favourite dishes since I was 8. My dad used to take me to restaurants after school and order Yuxiang Pork to share with me. Although it was still too spicy for an 8-year old’s taste buds, I just couldn’t resist the heavenly taste. My dad would sit together with me and pick out the chillies from the dish first before he started eating himself. Being away from my home for so many years, I look back on this memory whenever I have a well-made Yuxiang Pork dish.

So, in this post, I will share with you the ingredients and the method I used to make this incredibly flavorful dish from Sichuan province.

Yuxiang Pork Recipe

Recipe by LinCourse: MainCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

hour

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

An authentic Chinese recipe that shows you how to make the classic Sichuan dish called Yuxiang pork. A spicy and flavourful local favourite.

Ingredients

Pork Marinade
Egg white from 1/2 egg
Light soy sauce 1/2 tbs
Corn starch 1 tbs
Sugar 1/2 tbs
White ground pepper 1/4 tbs
Shaoxing Wine (or Chinese cooking wine) 1 tbs
Main Ingredients
Pork loin (or other cuts) 400g
Carrots 2 medium-sized
Chinese Wood Ear mushroom 1 handful
Bamboo Shoots 100g
Chopped garlic 5 cloves
Chopped ginger 1 tsp
Spicy bean paste (红油豆瓣酱 hóng yóu dòu bàn jiàng) 1 tbs
Pickled chillies (剁椒 duò jiāo) 1/2 tbs
Flavouring Sauce
Chinese dark rice vinegar 2 tbs
Light soy sauce 1 tbs
Corn starch 2 tsp
Water 3 tbs

Directions

Pre-preparation (approx. 1 hour before cooking)
Put the handful of Wood Ear mushrooms in warm water and let them soak.
Julienne the pork into little strips
Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a container. Add the pork and set aside.
Preparation and cooking
Julienne your carrots, soaked Wood Ear mushrooms, and bamboo shoots (or any other vegetables, such as baby corn).
Prepare the flavouring sauce in a bowl by mixing the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside as you will need this after cooking.
Warm up a pan and add half of a tablespoon of cooking oil.
Add 1 tablespoon of spicy bean paste (红油豆瓣酱) after 5 secs. Stir continuously on medium heat until the oil turns red.
Turn up the heat to high. Add ½ tablespoon of Chinese pickled chillies (剁椒) and cook for a few seconds (beware of jumping hot oil splashes).
Add the julienned pork you have marinated for an hour. Stir while the pork is browning in the pan.
Make sure the pork is properly cooked first before putting it in a bowl. Set aside.
Use the leftover oil in the pan to cook the julienned carrots, wood ears and bamboo shoots (and/or any other vegetables you are using) for 3-4 mins.
Put the cooked pork back together with the veggies. Add the ginger and garlic and stir while cooking for 2 mins.
Stir the flavouring sauce first with a spoon to make sure it is well mixed. Pour in the pan and keep stirring until the sauce has nicely thickened and coated on the meat and veggies.
Serve with rice and enjoy!

Different vinegar brands may affect the sourness of your dish. You might need to experiment a couple of times to achieve the perfect balance. I used Zhenjiang Rice Vinegar only because it is easy to find here in our local Chinese shops.

As for the wine, I typically use Shaoxing Wine because it has that authentic Chinese flavour. Any Chinese cooking wine, though, will do the trick. You could also experiment with other cooking wines and let us know how it turns out!

Variations

The original Yuxiang dish has always been meat-based and has used pork. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t switch the base up. For the veggie lovers and vegans out there, we’ve added a delicious Yuxiang Aubergine recipe just for you. Check it out here!

Try It Yourself!

Now you know how to make delicious Yuxiang Pork for a small group! For those averse to spicy food, Yannis feels this is a good introduction to Sichuan dishes. It’s got a rich enough flavour to make the slight burn worth the effort.

Let us know in the comments how it went! We’ll also be monitoring to answer any questions you may have so ask away. You can also follow us on Instagram for more food photos to whet your appetite.