Salt and pepper pork spare ribs or pork chops is a widely available and popular dish at a Chinese restaurant, particularly Cantonese restaurants. The origin of salt and pepper dishes has its roots in Cantonese cuisines. Salt and pepper dish has many variations, other well-liked seafood versions are calamari and prawns. Sometimes, salt and pepper beef is also available. Other modern variations are chicken ribs, chicken wings, quails and tofu. All these delectable dishes are also favourite Chinese restaurant take-away dishes and they are guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser at a party. For my gluten free recipe, I am using skinless and boneless pork legs, pan fried and served with a garlic, spring onion and chilli oil and garnished with freshly ground black pepper. You can also use pork shoulder or pork butt. This recipe is also soy free, dairy free, nut free and egg free. Check out my gluten free salt and pepper prawns adn salt and pepper chicken dish here.
Nutritional Values and Health Benefits of Pork
Pork is the most frequently consumed red meat worldwide, especially in southeast and eastern Asia. Lean pork is high in protein and abundant in numerous vitamins and minerals, making it a superb addition to a healthy eating regime. Pork is a rich source of zinc, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B3 (Niacin), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Pork also naturally comprises Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), which may help reduce cancerous tumours and has anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, pork increases thiamine level in human body, helps lower cardiovascular diseases and may help prevent type 2 diabetes by supporting optimum blood sugar levels or even help regulate glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients.
Cantonese Salt and Pepper Pork
Ingredients
- Rice bran oil for pan frying
- 1.5 kg 3.3Ib skinless and boneless pork leg, trimmed and cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces and roughly 1cm in thickness
- Gluten free corn maize flour for coating the pork pieces
- Steamed rice to serve
For The Marinade:
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons pale or medium dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
For the garlic oil:
- 3 tablespoons rice bran oil
- 5 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 large fresh red chillies finely chopped
- 2 spring onion shallots, finely sliced
For the Garnish:
- 1 large fresh red chillies finely chopped
- 1 spring onions shallots, finely sliced
- Freshly grind black peppercorns
Instructions
For the garlic oil:
- Heat up a small pot with the rice bran oil, pan fry the garlic on low heat until lightly golden, then add in the chillies and spring onion (shallots) and briefly stir-fry for another 1 minute. Turn off the heat and set aside in a small bowl.
For cooking the pork:
- Marinate the pork pieces with the marinade prepared, rub and mix well into the pork pieces. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Lightly coat the pork pieces with gluten free corn (maize) flour, shake off excess.
- Heat up a non-stick frying pan with one inch of rice bran oil, and pan fry the pork pieces for 3 minutes on each side or until pork are golden brown. Pan fry in 3 to 4 batches, adding more rice bran oil as needed.
- Pre-heat fan forced oven to 160C or 320F. Place the pork pieces in a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake the pork pieces for 5 minutes or until the pork pieces are well browned. Place on a serving plate.
- To serve, drizzle with the garlic oil, garnish with red chillies, spring onions (shallots) and freshly grind black peppercorns.
- Serve with steamed rice.
Notes
This looks so good and the title belies how good it is:-)
Cantonese salt and pepper dishes are really enticing and full of flavour no matter what meat, seafood or tofu you use to cook this dish. 🙂
You’ve got great flavours going on here. I can see this working really nicely with tofu.
You are right, salt and pepper tofu is another very popular variation of Cantonese salt and pepper dish, especially for vegan. 🙂