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Recipes + Menus

Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth: Season One: Yangshuo Cooking School

Serves2

Active time:30 min
Start to finish:35 min

December 2009

Watch a preview of this Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth episode and view its accompanying recipes. Plus, explore all episodes and more recipes from the show.

For black fungus

1 oz black fungus (tree ears; 1/2 cup dried)
1 cup boiling water

For Osmanthus Syrup

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon dried osmanthus flowers (see cooks' note)

For stir fry

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 oz boneless pork chops (3) thinly sliced across the grain at a 30° angle less than 1/8-inch-thick
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon osmanthus syrup

Prepare black fungus: Put fungus in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Steep until fungus is softened, about 15 minutes. Drain fungus and thinly slice lengthwise.
Make syrup: Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then add flowers and simmer 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes. You will need 1 tablespoon.
Stir-fry: Heat a wok over high heat until smoking, then pour oil down sides of pan. Add pork and stir-fry, spreading pork on bottom and sides of wok to cook quickly, until pork turns white, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add fungus and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add vinegar, soy sauce and 1 tablespoon syrup and toss pork to coat with sauce.

Cooks' Note: Osmanthus flowers are available by mail order from TeaSpring.com. For a different but very pleasant floral flavor, you could substitute dried chamomile flowers for the Osmanthus. Strain them out of the syrup before using.

Photograph by Marcus Nilsson

by Yangshuo Cooking School, Yangshuo, China

Keywords: adventures with ruth,; yangshuo cooking school,; yangshuo,; china,; pork

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