Two Taiwanese-style Thickened Soups, Xi-Lu Pork & Lean-Pork Thick Soup (西魯肉, 赤肉羹)

On an unseasonably warm day in early May in Southern California, we attended a Taiwanese Cuisine Demonstration sponsored by the Republic of China, in Taiwan. A young and talented celebrity chef, Chef Wen (溫國智), showed off 11 traditional Taiwanese dishes. Chef Wen added his personal touch to all these dishes and presented them as if each dish is an art piece!  In the coming days, we'll be trying our hands on some of the demonstrated dishes, hoping to make the recipes available in English, and the dishes a reality at home.

Xi-Lu Pork (西魯肉) is a traditional Thickened Soup (羹) from the northeastern Yi-Lan County (宜蘭)  in Taiwan. The version we describe below is easy to make, delicious, and a one-dish meal (with rice).  Two excellent YouTube videos (ChefWen-part1, ChefWen-part2, and, video2) serve as the baseline for this recipe, both provide great visual guidance even though  the videos come with Mandarin Chinese soundtracks. BTW, the word, 西 (Xi) in Xi-Lu Pork, is the sound in Taiwanese for the word, 絲 (slices), implying the fact that all ingredients in this dish are cut into slices.

On the other hand, Lean-Pork Thick Soup (赤肉羹) is a popular snack food (小吃) in Taiwan, available in a lot of the eateries and every night market.  The method of making this dish is similar to that of the Xi-Lu Pork, making this post a good place to see both dishes side by side.  Again, the Chinese word, 赤, is the transliteration from Taiwanese to Mandarin Chinese for the word, 瘦 (lean), implying the use of lean pork.  From the way these two dishes are named, we can see that these two dishes are quite native (and authentic?) Taiwanese dishes.

I. Xi-Lu Pork (西魯肉)

1. [Prep Work-1] All ingredients are sliced- (1) 10 - 12 cups of Napa Cabbage (coarsely sliced); (2) 6-8 oz of pork loin (or, any lean pork, slice, marinate for 30 minutes with 1 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp of rice cooking wine and 1 Tbsp of corn starch); (3) 8-10 dry mushrooms (香菇, reconstituted in cold water for 2 hours, or in hot water for 30 minutes, then thinly sliced); (4) ~1.2 cup of bamboo shoots (筍絲, defrost, and slice); (5) ~1/4 cup of dry wood ears (木耳, reconstituted in cold water for 2 hours, knots removed, then thinly sliced). Note- Chef Wen did not use pork in his version.  Other recipes use more vegetables, such as carrots (Julianne-sliced), and enoki mushrooms (金針菇).
2. [Prep Work-2] (1) 10-12 small dry shrimps (蝦米, soak in hot water for 30 minutes, no need to slice); (2) 6-8 cloves of garlic (minced); (3) 1-2 chunks of scallions (cut into 1" segments).
3. In a large flat bottom cooking pot, add 4-6 Tbsp of vegetable oil, turn on medium-to-high heat. Add dry shrimps, minced garlic, and scallion segments into the pot. Stir till fragrant (2-3 minutes).  
4. Add slices of dry mushrooms, wood ears, and bamboo shoots into the pot. Stir for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Push all the ingredients in the pot to the side of the cooking pot, to leave an open space in the middle of the pot.  Add 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil, and place the sliced pork into the opening. Stir the pork slices for 2-3 minutes, then stir and mix all the ingredients in the pot together.
6. Turn on high heat.  Add the Napa Cabbage slices into the pot.  Stir and mix.  
7. Season with 1-2 Tbsp of soy sauce (light soy sauce preferred for its light color), 2-3 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of white pepper, and 4-6 Tbsp of fried shallots (油蔥酥).  Now, add 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of water.  Cover the lid, bring to boil, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Note- As we learned from more experience later on, Napa Cabbage produces enough liquid when cooked in pot. Adding chicken broth and water in this step (and thickening the soup in Step 9) is really NOT necessary.
8. [Make Egg Crispy, 蛋酥, Optional] While the Napa Cabbage soup is being cooked, whip 2 eggs in a small bowl. Add corn starch fluid (1 Tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp of water) into the bowl.  Heat ~1/4" - 1/2" of vegetable oil in a frying plan till the oil is hot (i.e., a wet chopstick produces continuous bubbles under the surface of the oil when it's dipped into the oil).  Gradually and slowly pour the egg fluid into the oil with one hand, while stirring constantly with the other hand (to break the egg fluid into as many smaller egg pieces as possible).  Continue to fry the egg pieces till they are crispy and in gold brown color.  Drain oil and set aside.
9. Continue from Step 7, thicken the soup with corn starch fluid (1 Tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp of water).  Repeat the thickening process until the soup is thick enough to your liking.  Turn off heat.  Add 2 Tbsp of Black Vinegar (烏醋) and 2 Tbsp of sesame oil into the cooking pot.  Stir and mix Season to taste with salt (1/4 tsp a time), white pepper (1/2 tsp a time), black vinegar (1 tsp a time).  
10. Take the soup out into a large serving bowl.  Top the soup with egg crispy, then place coarsely-minced cilantro or scallions on top of the egg crispy as garnish.  Ladle the soup generously on top of a bowl of cooked rice, noodle, or rice noodle (米粉), and serve.  Here is a photo of the outcome from our kitchen.  
    

II. Lean-Pork Thick Soup (赤肉羹)

1. [Prep Work-1] Cut ~8 oz of pork loin (or, any lean pork) into thick slices (roughly, 1/4" thick x 1/4"- 1/2" wide x 1"- 1.5" long).  In a medium-sized mixing bowl, marinate with 1 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, 1 Tbsp of corn starch, 1 tsp of black vinegar, 1 tsp of white pepper, 1 tsp of Five Spices, and 1 egg fluid (whisk the egg white and egg yolk together first). Stir and mix thoroughly.  Set aside for ~60 minutes. About 15 minutes before cooking, add 1/4 cup of Sweet Potato Powder (地瓜粉) into the mixing bowl, stir and mix thoroughly. Let the pork sit for ~5 minutes.  Add 2 Tbsp of Sweet Potato Powder into the mixing bowl again, stir and mix (to make sure the pork slices are fully coated with the Sweet Potato Powder). Note- Please take care to purchase the sweet potato powder, not the tapioca powder. Some product packages label tapioca powder with the same Chinese name (地瓜粉).
2. [Prep Work-2] (1) Reconstitute 8-10 dry mushrooms (香菇, in cold water for 2 hours, or in hot water for 30 minutes), then cut into thin slices; (2) defrost and thinly slice ~1/2 cup of bamboo shoots (筍絲); (3) [Optionally] Reconstitute ~1/4 cup of dry wood ears (木耳)  in cold water for 2 hours, remove knots, then cut into thin slices; (4) Mince 6-8 cloves of garlic; (5) [Optionally] Crack and whisk 1 egg.
3. In a medium-sized pot, boil ~4 cups of water, place the pork slices into the pot slice by slice.  Stir with a pair of chopsticks (to make sure the slices do not get stuck at the bottom of the pot).  Take the slices out when they float to the surface.  Set aside.  Note- use the remaining water in Step 5 below.
4. In a flat bottom cooking pot, add ~4 Tbsp of vegetable oil, and turn on medium-to-low heat. Add the minced garlic into the pot, and cook till fragrant (1-2 minutes).  Add mushroom slices, bamboo shoots slices, and (optionally) wood ear slices, into the pot.  Turn on high heat, stir and mix for 2-3 minutes.  
5. Add 1 can (~1.5 cups) of chicken broth and ~1.5 cups of water into the cooking pot. Note- Add another cup of water if you want more soup for this dish. 
6. Add the pork slices from Step 3 into the cooking pot.  Bring the pot to boil, and turn the heat down to simmer.  
7. Now, season the soup with 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1-2 Tbsp of dried bonito flakes (柴魚片). Use 1-2 Tbsp of Fried Shallots (油蔥酥) as a good, but not perfect, substitute, if bonito flakes are not available.  Let the soup simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Note- See nice web page for more info on dried bonito flakes.
8. Thicken the soup with corn starch fluid (1 Tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 Tbsp of water).  Repeat the thickening process until the soup is thick enough to your liking.  [Optionally,] gradually drip the egg fluid prepared in Step 2 into the soup and stir constantly while dripping. Note- The egg fluid tends to make the thickened soup a bit murky. We often go without the egg fluid.
9. Turn off heat.  Add 1 Tbsp of Black Vinegar (烏醋) and 1 Tbsp of sesame oil into the cooking pot.  Stir and mix  Season to taste with salt (1/4 tsp a time), white pepper (1/2 tsp a time), and black vinegar (1 tsp a time).  Garnish with minced cilantro or scallions. Serve by ladling the thick soup generously on top of a bowl of cooked rice, noodle, or rice noodle (米粉).