The “Three Chops“ of Yunnan (三剁)

A fantastic stir fry of (1) minced pork (2) chili pepper and... (3) some other thing. 0:00 - The three chops of Yunnan 0:54 - Any way to skip the hand mince? 2:28 - Hand mincing technique 5:14 - Red Three Chops 8:11 - Black Three Chops 9:42 - White Three Chops 10:45 - Possible shortcut? Use free labor HONGSANDUO * Pork Belly (五花肉) or Boston Butt (梅花肉) or a combination, 250g * Marinade: Salt, ¼ tsp Sichuan Pepper Powder, ¼ tsp White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tsp Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp * Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, 螺丝椒, 二荆条), 100g * Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional * Ginger, ~½ inch, minced * Tomato, ~2 medium, 250g * Baijiu (白酒) -or- Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 1 tbsp. For frying * Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp. For frying * Seasoning: Salt, ½ tsp Sugar, ½ tsp MSG (味精), ¼ tsp * Water, 2 tbsp Hand mince the pork according to the video (or use ground pork if you prefer – at least 15% fat). Mix with the marinade and set aside. Dice the chili into ~1cm pieces and the tomato into ~1/2 inch chunks. Slice the spicy chilis, if using, and mince the ginger. Set aside. In a wok with about 4-5 tbsp of oil, fry the pork over a medium low flame and begin to break it up. Once it’s no longer one big meatball, swap the flame to medium-high and fry until the fat’s started to render out and the pork is just beginning to brown, ~5 minutes. Remove, and I like to do so with a strainer to let the excess oil drip off. You will likely be looking at ~1/3 cup of oil in your wok, so scoop out the extra, leaving ~3 tablespoons remaining to stir fry. No need to wash the wok. Over a high flame, add the tomatoes. Once they’ve started to release a touch of their liquid, add the ginger and the spicy chilis and fry until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add back in the pork, then swirl in the wine. Mix, then add the chilis. Fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in the soy sauce. Mix, and season. Optionally add the water if you’d like it saucier. HEISANDUO Note: in the video, we recommended subbing the datoucai with either Meicai (梅菜) or Hunan Grandmother vegetable (外婆菜). If you can get the fresh Meicai, it will work as a direct substitute. I believe many supermarkets abroad would carry it, but all I could find online was the dried version (梅干菜). If using the dried version, you’ll need to reconstitute it first – roughly three hours if soaking with cool water, one hour if soaking with hot water. For the Hunan grandmother vegetable, instead of the ~1 minute fry at the beginning of the stir fry, you’ll want to fry it for ~3 minutes in order to get out the sourness of the pickle. I (Chris) also think you could sub with Sichuan Yacai, but Steph disagreed. * Pork Belly (五花肉) or Boston Butt (梅花肉) or a combination, 250g * Marinade: Salt, ¼ tsp Sichuan Pepper Powder, ¼ tsp White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tsp Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp * Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, 螺丝椒, 二荆条), 100g * Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional * Ginger, ~½ inch, minced * Datoucai (大头菜) -or- alternative Chinese dried and fermented vegetable (see note), 125g * Baijiu (白酒) -or- Shaoxing wine (绍酒), 1 tbsp. For frying * Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp. For frying * Seasoning: Sugar, ¼ tsp MSG (味精), ¼ tsp Process is roughly the same as above. Working with the Datoucai, first rinse off the salt, then finely mince. Blanch for 30 seconds. BAISANDUO * Pork Belly (五花肉) or Boston Butt (梅花肉) or a combination, 250g * Marinade: Salt, ¼ tsp Sichuan Pepper Powder, ¼ tsp White Pepper Powder, 1/8 tsp Five spice powder, 1/8 tsp Liaojiu aka Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp * Medium chili (e.g. Serranos, 螺丝椒, 二荆条), 100g * Spicy Chili (e.g. Thai Birds Eye), ~7, optional * Ginger, ~½ inch, minced * Salted eggs, 3 * Baijiu (白酒) -or- Shaoxing wine (绍酒), 1 tbsp. For frying * Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp. For frying * Seasoning: Sugar, ¼ tsp MSG (味精), ¼ tsp Process is roughly the same as above, though when stir-frying the salted eggs you’ll want to move on as soon as it’s *just* started to want to emulsify with the frying oil. ______ And check out our Patreon if you’d like to support the project! Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ Found via My Analog Journal (great channel):