A signature dish of Sichuan cuisine, shredded pork with garlic sauce delivers a sophisticated and addictive taste: tangy, spicy, sweet & sour.
Since the start of my blog, many of my readers expressed an interest in Sichuan cuisine. Today, I’d like to share its signature dish which is believed to be the most ordered delicacy in Sichuan restaurants: Yu Xiang Rou Si (鱼香肉丝, also known as shredded pork with garlic sauce).
“Fish-flavoured” dish without fish
“Garlic sauce” is actually a term invented by Chinese restaurants in the West. It doesn’t indicate the sophistication of the seasoning used in Sichuan shredded pork. Essential ingredients include Sichuan pickled chilli, rice wine, black rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and generous amounts of garlic, ginger and spring onion. They create a tangy, spicy, sweet & sour taste known as “Yu Xiang (鱼香)” which literally means fish fragrance.
Don’t be surprised not to find any fish (or fish-related items) on the ingredient list. It is believed that the seasoning used in Sichuan shredded pork was inspired by the way fish was traditionally prepared in Sichuan. Popular dishes like Yu Xiang Eggplant (鱼香茄子), Yu Xiang Tofu (鱼香豆腐) call for the same set of ingredients.
Substitute for the key ingredients
If you wish, you may replace pork fillet with chicken breast for this dish. Beef can be an option too as long as you choose a cut ideal for quick stir-fry (e.g. flank steak or skirt steak).
Sichuan pickled chilli (四川泡辣椒) is the soul of Sichuan shredded pork with garlic sauce. It gives the dish a sharp spicy taste as well as an unique fragrance. I guess some of you might find it difficult to get this special ingredient. Living outside China for many years, I understand very well the frustration of not being able to find the “right” ingredients for Chinese cooking.
The good news is I’ve found substitutes which don’t affect the flavour of this dish very much:
- Use homemade pickled chilli garlic sauce
- Use other types of pickled chilli (e.g. Spanish ones)
- Use fresh chillies. Make sure you mince them very well to release their full flavour
Tips on julienne the pork
As you might have realised, there is lots of chopping involved in preparing Sichuan shredded pork with garlic sauce. Every ingredient is either cut into thin strips or finely minced. This seems a labouring job. But believe me, finely chopped ingredients do make a difference to the final taste.
The most challenging part has to be julienne the pork fillet. You first need to slice it then cut into thin strips. Here are my three tips:
- Freeze the meat for a while. It’s much easier to slice a more solid piece of meat. If possible, freeze the pork fillet for a couple of hours beforehand (time may vary depending on the size).
- Make sure the cleaver/knife is sharp. Not only a blunt one makes chopping time-consuming, but also it increases the chances of injury.
- Wet your cleaver/knife with water when cutting to avoid sticking.
Be creative with the vegetables
In any “authentic” version of Sichuan shredded pork with garlic sauce, wood ear (木耳, black edible fungus commonly used in Chinese cuisine) and bamboo shoots are indispensable. They are rather plain in flavour yet provide a crunchy texture to the dish.
Personally, I like being a bit more adventurous with vegetables. Carrot, bell pepper, asparagus, baby corn and celery are on my list of choices. Please feel free to adjust the recipe according to the availability of certain ingredients and of course your own preference.
Sichuan shredded pork with garlic sauce (Yu Xiang Rou Si, 鱼香肉丝)
Ingredients
For the meat
- 300 g pork fillet - 10oz
- 2 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 3 teaspoon water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
For the vegetable
- 2 tablespoon Sichuan pickled chilli - See note 1 for substitute ideas
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 2 teaspoon garlic
- 60 g pre-soaked wood ear - 0.5 cup (about 5g dried), see note 2
- 60 g bamboo shoots - 0.5 cup
- 40 g carrot - 0.5 cup
- 1 stalk spring onion
For the sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 0.5 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon black rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1.5 tablespoon corn starch
You also need
- 3 tablespoon cooking oil
Instructions
Marinate the meat
- Slice pork fillet then cut into long thin strips (see note 3).
- In a bowl, rub the pork (with your hand) with rice wine, soy sauce, salt and water until no more liquid can be seen.
- Add corn starch then mix well. Set aside.
Prepare the vegetables
- Mince Sichuan pickled chilli (or fresh chilli), ginger and garlic.
- Cut wood ear, bamboo shoots and carrot into thin strips.
- Finely chop spring onion.
Mix the sauce
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and stir well.
Stir fry
- Heat up a wok (or a deep frying pan) over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in marinated pork. Transfer to a plate when the meat becomes pale.
- Fry Sichuan pickled chilli, ginger and garlic in the remaining oil (add a bit more if necessary). Add wood ear, bamboo shoots and carrot.
- Stir fry for half a minute or so then add the pork. Cook a further half a minute.
- Pour in the sauce (stir well beforehand to avoid starch sitting at the bottom). When it becomes thick, turn off the heat then sprinkle spring onion over (see note 4).
NOTES
- Pickled chilli garlic sauce
- Other types of pickled chilli (e.g. Spanish ones)
- Minced fresh chillies
NUTRITION
NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.
Hi Wei,
I made this with chicken and it was wonderful, I was wondering if I could use the chili oil or spring onion oils instead of just cooking oil, thank you for some awesome cooking
Yes, you can use chili oil or spring onion oil instead, as long as: 1. The oil you used for making these flavoured oil has a high smoking point. 2. Remove any solid bits from the oil as they’ll burn.
Hi, I’m new to your site and so excited to find it. This shredded pork dish is the first one I’m going to try. My question is what exactly is pork fillet? Is it pork tenderloin or a different cut of pork? Is there an inexpensive cut of pork that can be used? Thank you so much for your blog!
Hi Holly! Yes, pork fillet is pork tenderloin. It’s the best cut for this recipe. That said, please feel free to use other cuts. Always make sure to slice it against the grain so you don’t taste too much of the chewy sinew. Hope this helps.
Hi Wei can i cook this with chicken, dont eat pork
Yes you can replace the pork with chicken for sure. Happy cooking!
This recipe was a huge hit! We make a lot of your recipes and we love all of them but this one really hit it out of the park. I had recently been given a bunch of red chili peppers from a friend’s garden who realized they were too spicy for her so I made hunan style pickled chillies, and took your advice to improvise on the veggies. We used shittakes and onions. I will confess that I doubled the recipe…but tripled the sauce…for more saucy deliciousness 🙂
That’s wonderful to hear!
Happy morning Ms Wei, thank you for your sharing. Regarding the garlic sauce what are the ingredients and how do I prepare it ? Please advise. Thanks again looking forward to your cooking guide.
Hi Molly! The ingredients for the sauce is included in the recipe card (at the very end of the post). Happy cooking!
Can Sambal Oelek chili paste be a substitute for Sichuan pickled chilis?
Yes Ken! You can use it as a substitute. Happy cooking!
This was AMAZING! This is probably the 5th recipe I’ve made from your website, and I am so impressed!!!! Delicious recipe!!
So happy to hear you’re enjoying my recipes! Happy cooking!
Unclear on the Sichuan pickled pepper. I first got the larger jar on the right…. interesting but the dish (shredded pork with garlic sauce) was not the flavor I expected. (maybe the fact that the jar was a year past date, something I spotted after I bought it.) So I went looking on Amazon and did not find a clear answer but I got the smaller jar on the left. I have not made this dish with it, but the pepper tastes more familiar.
Can you help define this ingredient? Perhaps name a brand or source?
Did not post picture… first jar says Sichuan pepper pickle, (only English on the jar) but no long red peppers, more like an Indian mixed vegetable pickle. The second jar is “fly by king” Sichuan chili crisp, more of a hot oil with some solids.
Hi John! The pickled chili pepper is made of fresh chili pepper and shouldn’t contain any other vegetables. “Fly by Jing” chili crisp is a type of chili oil/sauce made of dried chili.
If you have trouble sourcing it, make it yourself! Have a look at my post Pickled Chili Garlic Sauce which works perfectly for this dish.
Thanks for the receipe, I think this is the best I have tried. Dunlop’s, for me lacked a bit of flavour, which the addition of your dark soy adds. Super versatile on the veg too! Only thing I might change is adding a little less starch in the sauce as mine quickly went really thick, but thats my fault most likely! Thanks again and great site btw…really useful!
My pleasure to share!
Made this and it was delicious the whole family loved it ❤️ Thank you for posting x
My pleasure to share! ❤️