Say My Kitchen: Stir Fry Minced Pork with Chye Poh 菜脯炒肉碎

This is a humble home-cooked savoury dish. I remember mom cooking this 菜脯炒肉碎 when we were kids. It was often THE single dish on the table - accompanied by a bowl of hot porridge at most.

We were not well-off those days. We had a whole family squeezed in a small 2-room flat. This simple dish came as a bowl of indulgence.

We of course would not have mushrooms like what I am using in my recipe today. Mom would stir fry sweet turnips (菜脯) with chopped long beans and minced pork. We even named it "粒粒" for the fact that all ingredients were either minced or diced.

Whatever it is, this will always be one of those simple home-cooked dishes that remain close to my heart....for it reminds me of our humble beginnings....

Ingredients (enough for 2 to 4 pax if served together with rice/porridge) :

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250 gm minced pork (pre-marinate with 1/4 tsp salt, a few drops of sesame oil, a little grounded white pepper)
2 tbsp sweet turnips (add more if you like)(available from markets/supermarkets)
4 pcs dried mushrooms (soak to soften and diced)(set aside mushroom water after soaking)
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
3 slices of ginger (finely chopped)
2 small onions (finely chopped)
1 stalk of spring onion (finely chopped)
1 stalk cilantro/coriander (finely chopped)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cooking oil

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)

Tip : I like it better with sweet turnips instead of salted turnips. The packaging for both sweet and salted ones are quite similar.

The one on the left (darker colour) is salted turnips. The one on the right (lighter colour) is sweet turnips. They look almost similar if you are not careful.

Method :

Heat cooking oil in skillet/wok and lightly stir fry aromatic ingredients : finely chopped ginger, onions, garlic. Use medium heat.

Add sweet turnips.

Add mushrooms. Give ingredients a quick toss.

Add minced pork. Use spatula to separate minced pork. Turn to high heat. If the skillet/wok gets too dry at any point, pour in a little of the mushroom water (set aside after soaking dried mushrooms) instead of adding more cooking oil. Use sparingly as we still want our stir fry minced pork to be dry when cooked.

Add 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp brown sugar and stir fry till minced pork is cooked. Turn off heat and add half portion of finely chopped spring onion, cilantro/coriander and 1 tsp sesame oil.

Give it a final toss for another 20 seconds. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with the other half portion of chopped spring onions and cilantro/coriander.