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Yuxiang Shredded Pork
Shredded pork in the classic Sichuan yuxiang sauce — sweet, sour, salty and lightly spicy, with garlic, ginger and scallion doing the fragrant work. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 鱼香肉丝, report 5.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 鱼香肉丝_5.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 5 minutesTotal: 15 minutesServings: 2 with riceDifficulty: Easy–MediumRegion: SichuanFlavour: Yuxiang (fish-fragrant: sweet-sour-spicy)
Why this works
Yuxiang means 'fish-fragrant' but contains no fish: the name describes a seasoning style built on pickled chilli, doubanjiang, garlic, ginger and scallion, finished with a bowl sauce whose sugar-to-vinegar ratio the report fixes at 3:4. That ratio is the whole dish — sweet enough to round the vinegar, sour enough to keep it appetising, with heat sitting underneath rather than on top. Velveting the pork shreds in egg white and starch protects them during a very fast slide through oil, so they stay tender instead of drying out. The vegetables go in only briefly, so the wood ear stays springy and the carrot keeps a little bite. Because the sauce is premixed and the final reduction lasts just seconds, everything must be ready before the wok heats: this is a dish won or lost in preparation, not in cooking time. Serve it over plain rice, which soaks up the glossy sauce and balances the vinegar's edge.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork tenderloin, cut into fine shreds 8 cm long | 5.3 oz | 150 g | Cut across the grain; pork loin works but is less tender (adaptation). |
| Wood ear mushrooms, soaked and shredded | 1.8 oz | 50 g | Dried wood ear, soaked until soft, then shredded. |
| Carrot, shredded | 1.8 oz | 50 g | — |
| Salt (velveting) | Pinch | 1 g | — |
| Cooking wine (velveting) | 1 tsp | 5 ml | Shaoxing wine. |
| Egg white (velveting) | ⅓ egg white | 10 g | — |
| Corn starch (velveting) | 1 tsp | 5 g | — |
| Pickled chilli (paojiao), minced | 0.5 oz | 15 g | From an Asian grocery; do not substitute fresh chilli, which lacks the pickled tang. |
| Pixian doubanjiang | 2 tsp | 10 g | Chopped before use. |
| Ginger, minced | 1 tsp | 5 g | — |
| Garlic, minced | 2 cloves | 10 g | — |
| Scallions, chopped | ⅓ cup | 10 g | For finishing. |
| Sugar (bowl sauce) | 1 tbsp | 15 g | Report ratio sugar:vinegar 3:4 by weight. |
| Vinegar (bowl sauce) | 4 tsp | 20 ml | Chinkiang black vinegar or rice vinegar. |
| Light soy sauce (bowl sauce) | 2 tsp | 10 ml | — |
| Water starch (bowl sauce) | 1 tbsp | 15 ml | Corn starch mixed with water. |
| Water (bowl sauce) | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | — |
| Neutral cooking oil | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | Report gives no oil quantity; 30 ml is the home adaptation used here. |
Equipment
- Large skillet or wok — no wok required (adaptation)
- Small bowl for the bowl sauce
- Paper towels for drying the pork
Steps
- Velvet the pork. Cut the tenderloin into fine shreds, 8 cm long and about 0.3 cm thick. Pat dry, then toss with salt, cooking wine, egg white and corn starch. Rest for 5 minutes — the report's control point: shreds must be dry before velveting or the coating slips off.
- Prepare everything. Shred the wood ear and carrot, mince the pickled chilli, ginger and garlic, and chop the scallions. Mix the bowl sauce: sugar, vinegar, light soy sauce, water starch and water, until the sugar dissolves.
- Slide the pork. Heat the oil to about 120 °C (medium heat, shimmering but not smoking). Slide in the pork and stir quickly until it just changes colour, about 30 seconds. The report requires the centre to reach at least 75 °C / 167 °F. Remove and set aside.
- Bloom the seasonings. Leave a little oil in the pan. Over low heat, fry the pickled chilli and doubanjiang for about 20 seconds until the oil turns red, then add ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant.
- Combine and reduce. Add the carrot and wood ear and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Return the pork and toss on high heat for 10 seconds. Pour the bowl sauce around the edge of the pan and reduce on high heat for 5–8 seconds, until the sauce thickens and coats everything. Scatter the scallions and serve at once.
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Technique: the 3:4 bowl sauce
Sugar and vinegar must be premixed, because there is no time to adjust once the pan is hot: the final reduction lasts under ten seconds. If the sauce tastes flat, the vinegar is short; if it tastes sharp, the sugar is short. Stir the bowl sauce again just before pouring, since the starch settles, and pour around the pan's edge so it hits hot metal and thickens evenly rather than pooling on the pork.
Variations
- Milder: halve the pickled chilli and doubanjiang. The dish stays sweet-sour but loses its edge — expect a gentler result (adaptation).
- More vegetables: add shredded bamboo shoots with the carrot and wood ear, keeping the same bowl sauce (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called 'fish-fragrant' if there is no fish?
The name describes the seasoning combination — pickled chilli, garlic, ginger, scallion, sugar and vinegar — traditionally used with fish, here applied to pork.
Why did my pork turn tough?
Usually the oil was too hot, the shreds were not dried before velveting, or they were cooked longer than about 30 seconds. Keep the slide fast and the oil at or below 130 °C.
Can I use pork loin instead of tenderloin?
Yes, but cut it very finely and do not overcook it; loin dries out faster than tenderloin.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh. Leftovers keep 1 day refrigerated; reheat gently until steaming hot throughout and do not reheat more than once. Not recommended for freezing — the velveted shreds turn soggy.
Yuxiang Shredded Pork — Recipe Card
Shredded pork in a sweet-sour-spicy yuxiang sauce with wood ear and carrot.
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 5 minutesTotal: 15 minutesServings: 2 with rice
Ingredients: 150 g pork tenderloin; 50 g wood ear; 50 g carrot; velveting: 1 g salt, 5 ml cooking wine, 10 g egg white, 5 g corn starch; 15 g pickled chilli; 10 g doubanjiang; 5 g ginger; 10 g garlic; 10 g scallions; bowl sauce: 15 g sugar, 20 ml vinegar, 10 ml soy sauce, 15 ml water starch, 30 ml water; 30 ml oil.
Steps: 1) Velvet pork 5 minutes. 2) Mix bowl sauce. 3) Slide pork in 120 °C oil ~30 seconds, remove. 4) Bloom chilli and bean paste, add ginger and garlic. 5) Add vegetables, return pork, pour in bowl sauce and reduce 5–8 seconds.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 鱼香肉丝 (data/reports/5.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The report's own cost tables are arithmetically inconsistent with each other (the ingredient table totals far above the cost summary), so no cost figures are reproduced. The oil quantity, not given in the report, and the 2-serving presentation are adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (鱼香肉丝_5.jpeg).