Salt and pepper pork is a crispy, flavorful Chinese pork dish. Pieces of pork are coated in a light batter, deep-fried, and tossed with a bold seasoning mix of salt, pepper, garlic, and chili.
Coating the pork in a mixture of cornstarch and potato starch gives it a light, crunchy bite. The combination of salt, white pepper, and Sichuan peppercorns adds a delicious kick. Sichuan peppercorns cause an addicting tingling sensation in the mouth and have amazing flavor. I love this one, which is already ground for ease. Frying garlic, red chilies, jalapenos and adding green onions really enhances the flavor of this meal.
Marinate the pork with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and white pepper to get moist and tasty pork. You can use thick cut boneless pork chops, or pork tenderloin here. Try cutting the pork into thin 1/4 inch x 1-2 inch thick pieces. Adding them to a ziploc and pounding them with a meat tenderizer helps ensure the pork is tender.
If you are looking for a vegetarian version of this recipe, check out my salt and pepper tofu!
Salt and Pepper Pork
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 4 thick cut boneless pork chops cut into pieces 2 inches x 1/4 inch thick
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- oil for frying
For the garlic/chili topping:
- 2 jalapenos seeded, stemmed and sliced
- 2 red chili peppers seeded, stemmed and sliced
- 6 garlic cloves sliced
- oil for frying
For the breading:
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp ground Sichuan pepper
For serving:
- white rice
- sliced scallions
- additional ground Sichuan pepper
Instructions
- Prepare your rice and slice your scallions.
- Place your cut up pork chops into a ziploc bag and pound them a bit with a meat tenderizer. You aren't trying to flatten them here, just tenderize them a bit.
- Combine the pork with the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and cornstarch and mix well. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes if you have time.
- Combine the potato starch and cornstarch and white and Sichuan peppers in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Heat a wok or large deep pan of oil to 350 degrees. Dip each piece of pork into the corn/potato starch mix and shake off excess. Fry batches of pork so that you don't crowd the pan. Fry a batch of pork until the outside is lightly browned and crispy. Drain onto paper towels. Continue frying pork until it all fried. Sprinkle the fried pork lightly with additional Sichuan pepper.
- Clean out the pan and add a little clean oil. Fry the peppers and garlic for a minute or two until the garlic starts to brown. Drain on paper towels. Toss the cooked pork with the garlic and peppers and serve over rice with scallions on top. Sprinkle on additional salt/Sichuan pepper as you like.