Braised Ground Pork & Potatoes (Chinese “Meat and Potatoes”)

• servings: 4 servings
• total time: 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Marinate:

12 ounces ground pork or chicken (hand-chopped pork shoulder or pork butt is ideal)

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Stir Fry:

5 dried shiitake mushrooms (rinsed, rehydrated and diced; 5 mushrooms = about 0.5oz./15g)

1 pound russet potatoes (peeled and diced into ½-inch/1.25cm cubes)

2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable or canola oil)

1 tablespoon ginger (minced)

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon spicy bean sauce (spicy bean sauce doubanjiang or sweet bean sauce both work)

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

½ teaspoon white pepper

¼ teaspoon five spice powder

1½ - 2 cups water (including the soaking water from the shiitake mushrooms)

2 tablespoons garlic (minced)

½ large onion (chopped, about 1 cup / 160 g)

1 cup diced vegetables of your choice (such as peas, carrots, bell peppers and/or peeled broccoli stems)

2 teaspoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 1 tablespoon water)

Salt (to taste)

¼ cup scallions (chopped)

Directions

Rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms, then soak them in hot water for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Squeeze out the liquid and reserve it for later (you’ll use the liquid later in the recipe). Trim away any tough stems, and dice the mushrooms into ½-inch pieces.

Use store-bought ground meat, or use our hand-chopped meat technique, which will yield the best texture. Add the meat to a medium bowl along with the marinade ingredients: water, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and white pepper. Mix well until the meat has absorbed the marinade, and set aside for 15-20 minutes.

After peeling and dicing the potatoes, soak them in a bowl of cold water if you’re not cooking them right away. This prevents oxidation (i.e. the potatoes turning brown).

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the minced ginger and mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.

Add the pork, and increase the heat to high. Break up any large chunks with your spatula, cooking until the meat is opaque and lightly browned. Stir in the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok or pan.

Next, add the potato cubes (drained), oyster sauce, bean sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper, five spice powder, and water, using the mushroom soaking water (be careful to avoid any sediment from the mushrooms) and adding additional fresh water so you have 1½ cups total.

Stir well, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes—until the potato is just about cooked through.

Stir in the garlic, onion, and your choice of vegetables. Cover and cook for 1-2 minutes until the potatoes and vegetables are tender (note that denser vegetables like carrots and broccoli stems may take an additional 1-3 minutes to cook). Add more water—up to an additional ½ cup—if needed to prevent the sauce from drying out.

Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Salt to taste. Stir in the chopped scallions. Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Nutrition

• Calories: 450 kcal
• Total Fat: 26 g
• Saturated Fat: 7 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 17 g
• Trans Fat: 0.03 g
• Cholesterol: 61 mg
• Sodium: 1012 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 34 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4 g
• Total Sugars: 2 g
• Protein: 20 g