I grew up with up with Chinese steamed pork with Chinese sausage that Grandma used to make. She taught me how to make it and it was very simple. I always thought there was something missing in that recipe though. I realized that it was the mouth-feel. Perhaps it was because Grandma had no teeth, but it needed some crunch and a better texture. Grandma used to just season fine ground pork, add some Chinese sausage and steam it. I decided that the pork cut was important and additional ingredients needed to be added as "surprises."
This is now one of our favorite Chinese homestyle dishes and the accompanying "juice" is amazing with rice.
I like to get Pork Butt when it's on sale. This usually comes as a roast and I can then cut chunks of pieces and make various dishes out of them. See Chinese BBQ Pork, Perfect Potstickers to name a few.
For this recipe, some fat is required, but too much fat is unhealthy, so you decide how tasty / healthy you want to make this! I usually "grind" my own pork with a food processor. A food processor works better than trying to grind the pork with a hand blender. However, I was once desperate and actually ground the pork with smoothie blender! Grinding my own pork allows it to be a lot chunkier than store bought ground pork. I also feel that store bought ground pork appears white, which means a lot of fat! There are some Asian markets where you can pick your piece of meat and they will grind it for you. I have also learned that, if you know how to communicate with them, you can actually request a coarse or fine ground!
Besides having chunky ground pork, having surprises of tasty morsels and crunchy bits makes the dish interesting. My mother adds some preserved, salty vegetable which is optional. Depending on what type of preserved vegetable you use, it can add to the crunch. However, diced water chestnuts is a must!
INGREDIENTS
500 grams Pork Butt
100 grams water chestnuts
50 grams shredded salted (spicy) radish (optional)
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp whiskey
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp sesame oil Optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grind pork coarsely.
Grind pork coarsely. Should still be able to identify chunks of meat.
- Combine all marinade ingredients, mix into pork and let marinate for at least ½ hour.
Add seasoning and let marinate for at least 1/2 hr.
- Dice water chestnuts
- Slice Chinese sausage at a diagonal
- Add diced water chestnuts and preserved vegetable into pork mixture.
- Place in container and steam until internal temperature reads 160°F, about 20 minutes.
Press pork into a plate for steaming. Top with Chinese sausage and steam.
Sprinke with chopped scallion / cilantro for decoration. Enjoy!
CHINESE STEAMED PORK WITH SAUSAGE
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pork butt
- 4 oz water chestnuts
- 2 oz preserved shredded spicy radish. Optional
- 2 sticks Chinese sausage
Marinade (See Basic Chinese Meat Marinade)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp whiskey
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp sesame oil Optional
Instructions
- Grind pork coarsely
- Combine all marinade ingredients, mix into pork and let marinate for at least ½ hour.
- Dice water chestnuts
- Slice Chinese sausage at a diagonal
- Add diced water chestnuts and preserved vegetable into pork mixture
- Place in container and steam until internal temperature reads 160°F, about 20 minutes
- Set timer for 20 minutes