About the Recipe
Hai Ko Ro (or Hui Goh Roh in Chinese) is a Japanese take on a classic stir fried Chinese pork and cabbage dish. The title of the dish means "twice cooked pork" as the original Chinese recipe requires the pork to be simmered and then flash fried in a very hot wok. The Japanese version is a much simpler, one step affair but is no less tasty!
Ingredients
1/2 sweetheart cabbage, rinsed
1 green bell pepper, rinsed
3 spring onions, rinsed
1 clove of garlic
250g / 9 oz pork shoulder steak
1/2 tsp salt
some black pepper
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp toban djan Chinese chilli bean sauce
2 tbsp tian mian jiang Chinese yellow bean sauce
2 tbsp Japanese cooking sake or white wine
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese chilli oil (optional)
Preparation
Cut the cabbage in half lengthways then remove the hard core from the base. Chop the cabbage into bite sized pieces.
Cut the bell pepper in half, remove the core, seeds and white flesh.
Cut the pepper into bite sized pieces.
Remove the roots of the spring onions and the heads, then slice them diagonally.
Slice and mince the garlic.
Cut the shoulder steaks in half lengthways, then slice into 4 - 5cm / 1.5 - 2 in pieces.
Season with salt and pepper, then coat with plain flour on both sides.
Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add and stir fry the cabbage and bell pepper for 2 - 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and transer to a plate.
Add another 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to th pan. Lay the meat in the frying pan then turn the heat to medium and fry until lightly browned.
Turn the pieces of pork over and fry for another 2 minutes.
Now add the minced garlic and sliced spring onion to the frying pan and stir fry over the low heat for 1 minute.
Add the tbsp of Toban Djan/Chinese chilli bean sauce to the pork and mix well.
Return the cabbage and pepper to the frying pan. Mix well, then add 1 tbsp of Chinese Tian Mian Jian yellow beans sauce and mix again.
Add 2 tbsp of japanese sake (or white wine) and soy sauce. Stir fry for 1 minute or until the sake has evaporated.
Serve your Japanese style Hai Ko Ro with bowls of Japanese rice.
This dish is a great winter warmer accompanied by glasses of warm sake!