A traditional Cantonese home-style dish made with minced pork and fermented salted fish, steamed to soft, juicy perfection. Easy to prepare and full of umami, this is the ultimate comfort dish served with hot white rice.
40gramsalted fish, pan fried, removed bones, cut into pieces
10gramginger, diced and some cut into strips
2stripsspring onion, diced
Seasonings:
¼tspground white pepper
½tspsalt
½tsplight soy sauce
1tspsugar
Cornstarch Slurry:
2tbspwater
1tbspcornstarch
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Instructions
Prepare Ingredients:
Have ready all ingredients needed.
Also have ready the seasonings to marinate the minced pork.
First mince the pork with a cleaver or knife. When done, set aside.
Then clean the salted fish by first scraping with a knife on the skin to remove excess scales. Then briefly wash to remove excess and surface salt on the salted fish. Pat dry with paper towel.
Heat up a little oil and pan fry salted fish till turns light brown. Remove any bones and cut into small pieces and set aside.
Dice half the peeled ginger and cut the other half into thin strips.
Chopped some spring onions and set aside.
Lastly make cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch with water. Mix well and we are ready to cook the dish.
Steam Minced Pork With Salted Fish:
First transfer the minced pork to a mixing bowl. Add mince ginger, a bit of ground white pepper, a little salt, light soy sauce, and sugar. Using your hand, mix vigorously (in one direction) for a few minutes to incorporate all seasonings.
Then add in the cornstarch slurry in batches, about 3 to 4 times, mixing well (in one direction) after each addition. The cornstarch solution gives the meat a smooth and tender texture. Continue to mix (in one direction) till the meat comes together and is sticky to the touch.
Next add in the small pieces of salted fish. Using a pair of chopsticks, gently fold in the salted fish meat so you get a distinctive mouth-feel and pork-fish separation.Then add in a little oil. Mix lightly before putting into a steaming plate.
Choose a big steaming plate. Layer the minced pork thinly on the plate. Use chopsticks to evenly distribute on the plate. Top with some cut ginger strips.
Prepare steamer by bringing water to a boil. When ready, place the pork patty into the steamer. Steam on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
When done, garnish with chopped spring onions, fried garlic and garlic oil for a flavourful taste.
This minced pork with salted fish taste so good with steamed white rice. So be sure to cook more rice to enjoy!
It is very important to prepare the salted fish by rinsing and cleaning the salted fish. This will help to remove surface salt but keeps the aroma.
Chop the salted fish into very small pieces. Do not leave large chunks of salted fish so when steamed will result in even flavour and no salty bites.
Use pork with fat. (70% lean, 30% fat). The ideal meat is pork shoulder or pork neck. Avoid using extra lean meat.
After adding seasoning, stir in one direction until sticky. This will result in springy, meatball-style texture.
Add cornstarch liquid into the pork patty to ensure the pork stays smooth and juicy. Add the liquid in batches, mix well after each addition. This will allow the pork to slowly absorb the liquid.
Salted fish is already salty so minimise the use of salt and light soy sauce.
Add fresh ginger into the minced pork as this can remove the fishiness taste. The fresh ginger is vital as it balances the fattiness of the pork and the saltiness of the fish.
Layer the pork patty thinly on the steaming plate.This will ensure faster and even cooking resulting in a softer texture for the meat.
Use high heat when steaming the pork so the juices is locked inside the meat.
Do not steam too long. Steam about 10 minutes for normal thickness. Overcook pork will turn dry and tough. Can use chopstick to check for doneness after steaming.