A Beloved Sichuan Pork Stir-Fry

If I had a Spotify Wrapped of all the home-cooked meals I had growing up, stir-fried pork slivers (ròusī, 肉丝) would top the list. Rousi dishes were in both my grandmas’ and my mom’s  repertoires, often flavored with crunchy green peppers or a delectable fish-fragrant sauce. Whenever these women needed to feed a hungry family, a plate of stir-fried pork was the quick and easy solution. 

The most well-known rousi dish is yúxiāng ròusī, fish-fragrant pork, which consists of pork slivers, celtuce and wood ear mushroom cooked in a thick, garlicky sweet-and-sour sauce. But all kinds of different ways of preparing this type of stir-fried meat are common in Sichuan home cooking. In fact, the cookbook Popular Sichuan Cuisine (大众川菜), first published in the 1970s, features more than 10 rousi dishes made with ingredients like onion, squash, tender chives or tofu skin.

Stir-fried pork slivers with pickled mustard (zhàcài ròusī, 榨菜肉丝) is a classic version with a savory and umami flavor profile known as xiánxiānwèi (咸鲜味). Zhacai is a preserved vegetable made from the tuber of the mustard plant, prized for its crisp, tender texture and rich umami taste. In Chinese farmers’ markets, it is sold as whole tubers, but pre-chopped, packaged versions are available almost worldwide. The most famous ready-to-consume products come from the Fuling region of Chongqing. 

My recipe is adapted from the version in The Comprehensive Guide of Chinese Sichuan Cuisine (中国川菜大观), published in 1994. The seasoning in the original recipe is minimalistic, with only salt and MSG, so I tweaked it with more aromatics as well as some bell pepper for color and a bit of sweetness.

The Versatility of Zhacai

This inexpensive, versatile pickle has been flavoring Chinese dishes for decades, especially when food supplies were limited. Praised as “natural MSG” by the food writer Cai Lan (蔡澜), it can be served on its own as a side dish for rice or steamed buns, stir-fried with meat or chopped and used in savory tofu pudding or sticky-rice rolls (cīfàntuán 粢饭团).  

This dish uses zhacai as a potent flavor enhancer, giving the meaty combination an aromatic, umami-filled flavor with a slightly sweet aftertaste. Stir-fried pork slivers with pickled mustard can be served with a bowl of steamed rice, but it is also commonly enjoyed as a topping for noodles. Additionally, you can turn it into a soup (zhàcài ròusītāng, 榨菜肉丝汤) by simmering the zhacai in stock and then adding pork slivers and tender leafy greens, such as pea shoots. 

A mainstay in my kitchen, zhacai always reminds me of the resourcefulness of Chinese eaters. When my family first visited Europe and were worried that they couldn’t adjust to Western food, they brought bags of zhacai and other pickles as well as a bag of rice, so we could have congee served with zhacai and fried egg for breakfast. This notion of zhacai as a perfect companion for rice has even extended to the trendy slang of young netizens calling the video content they consume while eating “digital zhacai”(电子榨菜). 

The salt levels in different brands of zhacai can vary a lot. When I use salt-heavy brands, I like to soak and rinse the zhacai so it isn’t overly salty from sitting in the brine for a long time. (This is the same thing I do to prepare yácài, southern Sichuan’s variation on mustard pickles.) That said, many brands of packaged zhacai (including The Mala Market’s version) are sold without too much added salt, so that it’s ready to consume right away. If you’re using a brand without too much salt, or using the kind with added chili oil, you can skip this step. 

Preparing and Cooking the Pork Slivers

Stir-fried rousi recipes all contain similar steps: chopping the ingredients, marinating the pork, and  stir-frying everything quickly. 

The meat is cut into slivers about 2–3 inches (5–7 cm) long and 0.1 inch (3 mm) thick and wide—approximately matchstick size—which is known as “èrcūsī” (二粗丝) in Sichuan cooking terms. Slicing the pork into even, consistent thin strips might take practice. A few tricks could help: freezing the meat for about 1–2 hours can firm it up for easier slicing; a sharp knife and some patience are always beneficial. Some chefs recommend cutting the meat along the grain or at a slight 30º angle to avoid breaking the pieces. 

My recipe for stir-fried pork slivers with pickled mustard uses lean pork (such as pork loin), so marinating is essential to achieve a tender and juicy texture. Marinating seasons the pork and also adds moisture. Mix the ingredients well to let the pork absorb the marinade’s flavor, then add your starch slurry and mix again. Finish the meat with a thin layer of vegetable oil, to avoid sticking. Traditionally, this type of quick stir-fry dish (xiǎochǎo, 小炒) is done by cooking all the ingredients in one go, sometimes within half a minute. In a home cooking setting without a powerful burner, I prefer to fry the pork, then take it out of the wok (to keep it tender and juicy) while I cook the other ingredients, then add it back in later.

If you’re using a wok to stir-fry, I recommend the “hot pan, cold oil” (热锅冷油) method to prevent sticking: Heat the pan until it’s hot, then add oil and swirl to coat the wok. Immediately add the meat while the oil is warm but still not too hot.

For more classic dishes using zhacai, check out Taylor’s Sichuan Red-Braised Beef Noodle Soup (Hongshao Niurou Mian, 红烧牛肉面) and Kathy’s Classic Chinese Steamed Egg (Zhengdan, 蒸蛋) and Foolproof Sichuan Tofu Pudding (Douhua, 豆花).