How to make Hakka stir-fry at home? Step-by-step guide to a savory, rice-friendly recipe

The Hakka series is something I, as a daughter of the Hakka people, have always wanted to do. Not to satisfy my appetite, but as a deep wish. I would not presume to call it carrying on or promoting a tradition; I simply want, through recording the cooking process, to slowly search for the tastes of my childhood, the flavors of all those ingredients hidden deep in my heart and the most original, unadorned ways of preparing them.

I remember that during a guided tour with Teacher Ye Lun-hui, one remark struck me deeply: "Only when you know something does feeling arise; only when you understand it does love arise." I hope that Hakka stir-fry is just the beginning, and that this series can keep going on and on~~

Ingredients:
Pork belly……………150g
Dried squid……………half a squid
Dried tofu………………..3 slices
Celery………………..2 stalks
Scallions………………..2 stalks
Chili peppers………………..2

Seasonings:
Soy sauce…………………2 tablespoons
Rice wine…………………1 tablespoon
White pepper…………..a pinch
Salt……………………..a pinch

Steps:

1. Soak the dried squid in warm water for about 20 minutes.
2. After soaking it looks like this. Do not soak it too much; the squid in Hakka stir-fry is meant to be firm and chewy, the more you chew the more fragrant it gets~
3. Tear off the dark red skin~
4. Remember to always cut against the grain, so it will not curl up after stir-frying. Against the grain means perpendicular to the direction of the curl (as shown
5. Once all the ingredients are ready, start chopping, chopping, chopping.
6. First slice the pork belly into slices (it really has five layers)

7. Cut the sliced pork belly into strips, and slice the dried tofu into 0.3 cm pieces.
8. This piece of pork belly happens to have a large chunk of fat, so let me first render out some fragrant lard.
9. Fry the lard until golden and crisp, with an irresistible aroma (along the way, take out the whole piece of lard and cut it into small pieces)
10. Stir-fry the pork belly until fragrant; no need to add any other fat
11. After the pork belly is stir-fried until dry, add the dried tofu and continue to fry
12. Once both sides of the dried tofu are golden brown, add the squid strips and stir-fry until all three ingredients are fragrant and browned, then scoop them out and set aside.

13. Cut the scallions and celery into sections
14. Stir-fry the chili peppers until fragrant, then remove them once there is a slight aroma to avoid making the dish too spicy
15. What is stir-fried here is the white part of the scallions; the celery and the green parts of the scallions should wait and go in later
16. Mix the seasonings, except the pepper, into a bowl first
17. After stir-frying the white parts of the scallions until fragrant, add the dried tofu, squid and pork belly to the pan, then add the seasonings and stir-fry
18. Once the ingredients in the pan are stir-fried until flavorful, only then add the green parts of the scallions and the celery to keep them green and crisp, and finally sprinkle in a little pepper before taking the dish off the heat to enhance the flavor.

19. Hakka stir-fry is a bento dish that goes perfectly with rice!!

Tips:

1. The most labor-intensive parts of this dish are cutting the ingredients into uniform strips and stir-frying the ingredients until dry, but as long as the order in which each ingredient goes into the pan is right, it is actually quite easy~~
2. Remember to add the celery last, otherwise it will not have that crisp texture!
3. The squid will only be in strips after stir-frying if cut against the grain; if it curls up, it will not look like Hakka stir-fry at all~

Aftertaste:
No matter how much rice is packed into the bento, you can still eat it all; it is truly salty, savory and great with rice!!!
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Duoduo Kaimu selects delicious, practical recipes to share with the NewsMarket readers who care about agriculture and love the land and the ecological environment; not only can everyone buy good ingredients at NewsMarket, they can also develop great cooking skills!