Pork and Chrysanthemum Clay Pot

Pork

Pork and Chrysanthemum Clay Pot
Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 one-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound pork chop bones simmered in one cup of water to make a stock
3 pork chops, the meat shredded, the bones simmered for half hour in one cup of water to make a stock, strain, then discard the bones
4 leaves of celery cabbage, cut into half-inch pieces
3 Tablespoons wood ear fungi, soaked, any hard parts discarded, and torn into half-inch pieces
20 to 30 dried day lily buds, soaked until soft
1 four to six ounce can bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
6 cups vegetable oil
1 crust of dried cooked regular or glutinous rice crusts, broken into one-inch pieces (about one cups worth
1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 Tablespoons thin soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large white chrysanthemums, petals removed, everything else discarded
Preparation:
1. Heat a wok or fry pan, add the tablespoon of oil, and stir-fry the onion, garlic, and ginger for one minute. Then add the pork and stir-fry until it is no longer pink.
2. Add celery cabbage, drained day lily buds, fungi pieces, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry for one minute, then add the reserved stocks. Remove and set aside.
3. Wash and dry the wok, add the six cups of oil, and deep-fry the rice crusts until light tan. Remove them to a crock and set the oil aside for another use.
4. Reheat the onion mixture to the boil, add both soy sauces and the sesame oil, and simmer for half an hour, then remove the contents to another crock pour filled with the fried rice crusts. Sprinkle with the chrysanthemum petals and serve. Do not stir them in, just serve the mixture with them on top, some will get tossed in as this dish is consumed.

Flavor and Fortune is a magazine of: