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5.0 from 9 votes

Ground Pork Stir Fry

Classic Taiwanese "flies' heads" stir fry, done with ground pork or something similar. This is a pretty standard recipe that has little variation from cook to cook; mine is based on a rendition in the excellent book Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees by Kian Lam Kho.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 433 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or other cooking oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 to 3 cups garlic chives, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 3 tablespoon fermented black beans (see headnotes above)
  • 1/2 cup red chiles, sliced into small rings (see headnotes above)
  • 3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or sake
  • salt to taste

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Sprinkle the soy sauce and white pepper over the ground meat and mix it in well with your (very clean) hands. Set it aside as you cut the other vegetables.
  2. In a wok or large pan, heat the oil over very high heat until it just barely begins to smoke. Add the ground pork and stir fry until it's no longer pink. Remove the pork from the wok.
  3. If there is no oil left in the wok, add a tablespoon. When it's hot, stir fry the garlic for a few seconds, then the remaining ingredients, including the pork. Stir fry until the chives are a bit wilted and bright green, about 2 minutes. Serve at once with steamed rice.

Notes

  • I use ground wild pork here, but obviously store-bought ground pork works, too. And really? Any ground meat will be fine. 
  • Ideally you can get the fermented black beans, which are the "flies' heads" in this dish. But if not, regular black bean paste you see in many supermarkets will do. 
  • I grow the little red chiles, which are basically serranos, but red ones can be tough to find. Green serranos are fine, and for added heat use Thai chiles. 
  • Garlic chives are easy to get in Asian markets, but use regular green onions if you don't have one near you. 

Nutrition Information

Calories 433kcal (22%) Carbohydrates 8g (3%) Protein 25g (50%) Fat 33g (51%) Saturated Fat 10g (50%) Cholesterol 82mg (27%) Sodium 769mg (32%) Potassium 576mg (16%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 3g (6%) Vitamin A 2787IU (56%) Vitamin C 69mg (77%) Calcium 74mg (7%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 433

% Daily Value*

Calories 433kcal 22%
Carbohydrates 8g 3%
Protein 25g 50%
Fat 33g 51%
Saturated Fat 10g 50%
Cholesterol 82mg 27%
Sodium 769mg 32%
Potassium 576mg 12%
Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 3g 6%
Vitamin A 2787IU 56%
Vitamin C 69mg 77%
Calcium 74mg 7%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.