Have you ever try sun-dried ingredients in cooking? I think one of the most common sun-dried items being used is sun-dried tomatoes. All that sweetness and aroma were well-preserved and concentrated, making sun-dried tomatoes a great use in many pasta dishes.
As for this Asian recipe, I'm going to use sun-dried cauliflower here. It's not as common at the local grocery stores, but can be found in rural cities in Taiwan, usually from a street stand, where the seller actually sun-dried a wide variety of vegetables. On top of sun-dried cauliflower, you can also find items like sun-dried cabbage, string beans, radish, and more.
The texture changes once the cauliflower has been sun-dried. I would say you probably won't recognize it at all. Cauliflower as it is can be crunchy or easily crumbled, but once sun-dried, it can turn soft and harder to chew, much sturdier so to speak. That's why sun-dried cauliflower works well in prolonged stir-fry, or even pork stew dishes. If you can get a hold of sun-dried cauliflower, or brave it up and make it yourself, do give this recipe a try.
Sun-dried cauliflower and shredded pork stir-fry 白花椰菜乾炒肉絲 -
Ingredients?
- 2 loosely packed cups sun-dried cauliflower
- 0.5 lb shredded pork
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 red chili
- 1 stalk scallion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or other preferred cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup water
Pork marinade:
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
How?
Rinse the sun-dried cauliflower first then soak in room-temperature water for about an hour. Once ready, drain and pat dry, set aside for later use.
Prepare the shredded pork with simple marinade. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine in a container. Transfer the pork over and give it a gentle massage. Let it marinate while prepping other ingredients.
Destem the scallion and cut into sections. Destem the red chili and fine chop it. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.
Use a non-stick pan or a wok, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of preferred cooking oil to evenly coat the bottom. Turn to medium high heat. Add in the scallion sections and cook for about 30 seconds to one minute, or till slightly browned.
Add in shredded pork along with the marinade. Give it a few tosses till the pork starts to turn white. Add in garlic and chili, keep stir-frying till slightly dried out, but not burnt.
Add in sun-dried cauliflower along with 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 cup of water.
Bring to a boil then lower the heat to about light bubbling. Continue to cook till the liquid has been reduced almost completely. The color will start to darken as it continues to cook and reduce. Plate and serve.
If you're intrigued enough and would like to try making sun-dried cauliflower yourself, here's how it goes. Break the cauliflower into smaller florets. Bring a big pot of water to a boil and season with some salt. Quickly cook the cauliflower in boiling water, it takes less than one minute.
Drain out the liquid and pat dry. You can use some kitchen towel to absorb extra moisture. Transfer to a bamboo sieve, or something else that can hold up the cauliflower and won't accumulate moisture on the bottom. Evenly lay out the cauliflower, make sure there's no overlapping of the florets.
Expose the crop under direct sunlight during day time, and store indoor at night, or collect semi-dried cauliflower in a bag and store in the fridge at night. Continue to lay out the cauliflower under the sun the next day. Repeat for 3 to 4 days. Once done, store in an air-tight bag, or even in the freezer for longer storage time. Make sure to prepare at least 2 cauliflowers if you're taking on this sun-drying venture. Otherwise once fully dried, the florets can really shrink down and you'll only end up with a handful of sun-dried result. Might as well make more with almost the same effort right?
Other Asian stir-fry recipes:
- Kimchi and tender lamb strips stir- fry 泡菜炒羊肉條
- King oyster mushroom and Chinese basil stir-fry 九層塔杏鮑菇
- Cauliflower stir-fry with Chinese fermented dried soybeans 豆酥白花椰菜
- Tomato beef stir-fry 番茄炒牛肉
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