Savory and aromatic, with a rich, bold sauce and a smooth, tender texture.
Sautéed Three Treasures is a Shandong dish. The "three treasures" can be combined in various ways, but they almost always involve animal innards, so removing any off-flavors is key. Slightly different from stir-frying, the sauce for this flash-fry method is more generous; if the seasoning is well-balanced, it makes for an incredibly satisfying dish to eat with rice.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
100 g pork kidney
Pork liver 100 g (about 3.5 oz)
50 g (about 1.8 oz) pork tenderloin
Use fresh pork kidney and pork liver if possible; frozen ones won't work. Pork loin is tender and ideal for quick-fry dishes, but pork shoulder also works well.
Marinade
Soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, a small amount of each
a small amount of dry cornstarch
egg whites - as needed
Seasonings for the sauce
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) soy sauce
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) yellow rice wine
10 g (about 2 teaspoons) water
5 g (about 1 teaspoon) vinegar
3 g (about 1 teaspoon) white sugar
1 g salt
a small amount of sesame oil
pepper to taste
Cornstarch - a small amount
Other Seasonings
150 g (about 5 oz) scallions
3 cloves garlic
2 dried chili peppers
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
① Soak the pork kidney and liver for a while, then drain the blood water. Slice the liver and score the kidney into flower-cut pieces (Image 1). Slice the pork tenderloin, marinate briefly with a little soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, then add a small amount of cornstarch and egg white, mixing well (Image 2).
*Soaking the pork kidney and liver and discarding the blood water helps reduce any gamey odor. Among the "three ingredients," only the pork loin slices need to be marinated in advance; for the kidney and liver, simply toss them with Shaoxing wine and cornstarch right before they go into the oil to flash-fry. This is because these two ingredients contain a lot of moisture—if you marinate them and don't cook them immediately, they will release water, diluting the marinade and preventing the coating from adhering properly.
Step 2: Cut the scallions into rolling knife chunks, slice the garlic, and remove the seeds from the dried chilies (Image 3). Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, then add the sliced garlic (Image 4).
*Cut the scallions into larger pieces to prevent them from fully softening during cooking, which would both compromise the dish's appearance and ruin their texture.
Do not add too much starch to the sauce, or it will stick to the pan immediately. Make sure to stir it thoroughly so there are no lumps or sediment.
Heat oil in a wok until moderately hot, then quickly fry the ingredients until just cooked through.
③Heat a wok over high heat and add plenty of oil. When the oil reaches 350°F (five-tenths hot), add the marinated pork tenderloin slices and cook over medium heat until the surface turns white (about 90% cooked), then remove them (Image 5). Toss the sliced pork kidneys and liver with Shaoxing wine and cornstarch until evenly coated. Once the oil temperature returns to 350°F, add the kidneys and liver, flash-fry over high heat until just cooked through, then remove (Image 6).
*In this step, first flash-fry the pork tenderloin slices, then the pork kidney and liver slices, to prevent the tenderloin from absorbing any off-flavors; the tenderloin slices don't need to be fully cooked through since they'll be stir-fried again later, so cook them until about 90% done.
To prepare, use the quick-fry method with sauce.
④ Pour out the oil from the wok, leaving just a thin layer. Over high heat, fry the dried chili peppers until they turn a reddish-brown and release their fragrance (Image 7), then add the scallions and stir-fry until fragrant (Image 8). Keeping the heat high, quickly pour in the prepared sauce and bring it to a boil. Finally, add the "three ingredients" back into the wok and stir-fry over high heat until everything is evenly coated and the sauce turns glossy and thick (Image 9).
*Although the amount of dried chili peppers is small, they add great flavor—just be careful not to burn them when frying.
For flash-fry dishes, the sauce should be more generous; when adding the sauce, be sure to stir it again thoroughly, otherwise the texture will be affected.
*The key to quick-fry with sauce is speed—if you hesitate, the sauce will immediately congeal. The three types of meat, after being blanched in oil, will release a lot of moisture as they sit, especially the pork kidneys and liver. Before adding them to the wok, be sure to drain off any excess liquid from the plate; otherwise, the finished dish will look unappealing and the texture will suffer.
Flexible application
Many ingredients can be used for this dish, such as pork tripe, large intestine, pork heart, or chicken innards like chicken hearts, livers, and gizzards.