Shredded pork with garlic sauce, or Yu Xiang Rou Si, features tender pork strips stir fried with an array of colorful vegetables, brought together with a rich sauce that is sweet, sour, savory and spicy. Try this dish for an authentic Chinese restaurant experience in your own kitchen!
I think the English name “Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce” does not justify this dish. Yet, the explanation of its Chinese name is a little long-winded.
Yu Xiang Rou Si (鱼香肉丝) directly translates as “fish fragrant shredded pork” in Chinese. It might sound confusing because there’s nothing fishy about this dish.
What is Yu Xiang
The Yu Xiang, or fish fragrant flavor, is one of the major flavor profiles in Sichuan cuisine. You might have experienced the Mala (麻辣), or numbing spicy, in the famous Mala Chicken or Mapo Tofu. The Gai Wei (怪味), or strange flavor, in the Chicken with Spicy Sesame Sauce. The Suan La (酸辣), or sour spicy, in the hot and sour noodle soup. The Yu Xiang flavor is another signature one that is commonly used in dishes such as Yu Xiang Eggplant, or this dish, which we loosely translate as “shredded pork with garlic sauce”.
To create the flavor, an appropriate ratio of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine, doubanjiang (fermented spicy bean paste) and plenty of aromatics is used to create a rich yet balanced symphony of flavors. It results in a spicy, savory sauce that is also sweet and sour. All four flavors are balanced and none stands out too much, yet it’s bursting with fragrance.
In the US, you might find this dish in authentic Sichuan restaurants under the name shredded pork with garlic sauce. And the sauce tastes much more complex than the plain brown sauce that’s sometimes also referred to as garlic sauce.
The ingredients for shredded pork with garlic sauce
Shredded pork with garlic sauce uses thinly sliced pork and vegetables to create a special texture – tender, crisp, and very richly slathered with the sauce due to the cutting method. Yes, it does take a moment (or a few!) to prepare the ingredients. But the result is beyond rewarding.
Doubanjiang
Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱), also known as spicy fermented bean paste and broad bean sauce. It is a key ingredient in dishes like mapo tofu. And it has a strong fermented savory, salty and spicy taste, which adds complexity to the sauce.
Try to find “Pixian Broad Bean Paste” at an Asian market. Pixian is a small county in Sichuan province that produces the best broad bean paste. If you’re using this brand, you’re already halfway there. You can also purchase this brand on Amazon here.
The vegetables
Shredded pork with garlic sauce always uses various vegetables for their color, texture, and taste. The most commonly used are bamboo shoots, carrots, wood ear mushrooms, and sometimes peppers.
The wood ear mushrooms do not add a lot of flavor, but the soft yet crunchy texture works so well with the crisp vegetables and their subtle earthiness works beautifully with the sauce.
The carrots are semi tender and crisp and have a nice sweet taste.
You can skip one vegetable or replace it with your favorite. But I highly recommend sticking to the recipe for the authentic experience.
TIP: you can use a julienne peeler to slice the carrots to save time, as the knife work can get tedious.
How to cut the pork
You can either use pork loin or tenderloin for this dish.
- If using pork loin, you should slice the big piece of pork down the middle to create a smaller long piece first.
- Then slice the piece into thin slices.
- Half stack the pieces, then further slice them into strips that are just a bit bigger than matchsticks.
If you find the pork too soft and hard to slice, placing it in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes helps a lot.
Mise en place
Once you’ve done the prep, your table should have:
- Marinated pork
- Mixed sauce
- Minced garlic and ginger
- Doubanjiang
- Sliced bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, and carrots
- Sliced pepper
I like to group my ingredients by when they’re used in the recipe, so I can use fewer prep bowls and make the cooking process clearer.
How to cook shredded pork with garlic sauce
- Stir fry the pork until just cooked through, then transfer it to a plate
- Cook the aromatics with doubanjiang to release the fragrance
- Add the vegetables that take longer cook
- Add the cooked pork and sauce back into the pan
- Stir everything together
That’s it. Now you can serve the shredded pork with garlic sauce over steamed rice to make a delicious, beautiful, and balanced meal.
Afterthoughts
Yu Xiang Rou Si, or shredded pork with garlic sauce, is a very popular dish in China. It was one of my favorite Sichuan dishes growing up, just like Kung Pao Chicken. It is not quite as spicy as some other famous Sichuan specialties like Dan Dan Noodles, so it’s a great dish to introduce someone to Sichuan food if they do not like lots of spiciness. And it’s a dish that many kids love.
I was initially hesitant to share this dish, because the cutting requires a lot of effort and time. But it’s too delicious to miss! I hope you take the time to prepare it and experience how great it is.
Other delicious Sichuan recipes
- Ma La Xiang Guo (Sichuan Mala Dry Pot, 麻辣香锅)
- Shui Zhu Yu (Sichuan Boiled Fish, 水煮鱼)
- Mapo Eggplant (麻婆茄子)
- Chinese Bang Bang Chicken (棒棒鸡)
- Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic (蒜蓉炒豆苗)
- Sichuan Spicy Wonton in Red Oil (红油抄手)
Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce (鱼香肉丝, Yu Xiang Rou Si)
Ingredients
Dried ingredient
- 8 g (scant 1/4 cup) dried wood ear mushrooms (yields about 1 cup after soaking)
Pork
- 8 oz (225 g) pork loin
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon peanut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable)
- 1 tablespoon doubanjiang
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoon ginger , minced
- 1 medium carrot , julienned (yields 1/2 cup once cut)
- 1 Anaheim pepper , or long red pepper or both, julienned (yield 1/2 cup once cut)
- 1/2 cup bamboo shoots , sliced
Instructions
Prepare the dried ingredient
- Add wood ear mushrooms to a medium-sized bowl and hot water to cover. Soak until the mushrooms turn tender throughout, 20 to 30 minutes. Once done, rinse the mushrooms and gently rub them with your fingers to remove any dust. Drain, cut into thin slices, and set aside.
To marinate the pork
- Slice the pork loin into round, 1/8” (4 mm) thick pieces. Stack the slices and further cut into 1/8” (4 mm) thick strips. Add the Shaoxing wine, peanut oil, salt, and white pepper. Mix with your fingers until the wine is fully absorbed. Then add the cornstarch and mix again until evenly coated. Marinate for 15 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
For the sauce
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Stir to mix well and set aside.
To make the stir fry
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot. Add the marinated pork while separating the pieces, so they do not overlap too much in the pan. Cook without touching until the bottom turns golden. Flip and cook the other side until just cooked. Transfer the pork to a large plate.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the garlic, ginger, and doubanjiang. Stir and cook for a minute or so, until the aromatics are evenly coated with the doubanjiang.
- Add the carrots, soaked wood ear mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Cook and stir until the carrots begin to wilt, about 1 minute.
- Add the peppers and cooked pork. Stir the sauce to dissolve the cornstarch again and pour it into the pan. Immediately stir everything together until the sauce thickens, 30 seconds or so. Transfer everything to a plate.
- Serve hot over steamed rice as a main dish.
You wrote “I was initially hesitant to share this dish, because the cutting requires a lot of effort and time.” For me, a large part of the joy I get from cooking, comes from the preparation. My family appreciates a well cooked meal and when I am preparing the ingredients, I know my efforts will be enjoyed. Especially when I drop hints that we will have Szechaun and they hang out bt the end of the counter. Thank you for opening my eyes to a world beyond “Wok With Yan” No disrespect to Stephen. (It’s what was popular at the time).
Excellent recipe–like I would get in NYC in the 70’s. I used shrimp and chicken and it came out perfect. Thank you for a great recipe
Maggie, am making shredded pork as much as I can. In a way it is like teice cooked, since I am using a chunk of Indonesian pk roast that is still pink. But my wife wanted something in garlic sauce. Will let u know. Still wish we lived in nyc at least to meet you and would love to go to Hunan Slurp.
Made this last night and it was so good! Just had it again today and it tastes even better with the flavors all settled in overnight. It was easy to make and so delicious. I love the tanginess and I even added sliced chili peppers in it to make it extra spicy. Thank you!
Maggie, I don’t see the green onions listed in the ingredients (see stir-fry step 2); I’m not sure I see them in your mise, either
Sorry about the confusion! I think I ended up taking out the green onion last minute to shorten the recipe by a bit.
PS. Most Chinese stir fries use the combo of green onion, ginger and garlic by default. For this recipe, since the sauce is quite fragrant, I decided to skip 1 aromatic. If you do have green onion on hands, you can slice 1 green onion and add it with the ginger and garlic.
Gusto mucho en casa gracias por compartir.
I’m so glad you decided to share this recipe. I didn’t mind the chopping all and the end result was so worth it. It was delicious! Such a wonderful flavor. This will be going into my regular rotation of recipes!
Awesome. This is my husbands favorite take out choice. He says this was better than any restaurant. Thank you!