Yunnan Simple -- 炒饵丝 -- Stir Fried Ersi

[abcdefg]

This is a quick and easy one-dish meal. Ersi 饵丝 are thin-cut square strands of rice cake. Popular in most of Yunnan, though the most famous versions originated in Dali 大理 and Tengchong 腾冲.

 

You normally buy this rice cake as a block, and in that form it's called 饵块。It can then be sliced into thin square pieces 饵块片 or these noodle-like strips. Yesterday at the wet market the elderly lady selling it was having a slow day, and offered to cut it up by hand for me. I bought 2 Yuan worth; enough for two meals.

 

It differs from rice noodles 米线, which are also popular here, in being of firmer texture. 饵丝 are a little chewy. 

 

 

Today I made a stir fry with them, adding lean pork and two kinds of peppers. To save time I bough a piece of roast pork tenderloin 烤里脊 from the roast meat guy. Cost 10 Yuan. Vendor sliced it on the spot. 

 

 

Two sweet red bell peppers, sliced. Four slightly spicy green peppers, sliced. The ones I used are these crinkly  虎皮较, which means "tiger skin." If you like spicy food, use all the seeds; if you prefer it milder, take the seeds out.

 

 

Rough chopped some garlic. The kind I used was the "single clove" type that has a mild flavor. It's called 独蒜 here.

 

 

 

Wok on high heat, add oil when hot, start the garlic alone first and then add the peppers. When they begin to wilt, add the ersi on top and let them soften for a minute. Then toss it all together for 3 or 4 minutes.

 

 

Add the liquid seasonings, a tablespoon or so of dark soy sauce and a teaspoon or so of pricky ash oil. Dark soy is usually called 老抽 here; the kind I had on hand was mushroom flavored. Prickly ash "peppers" are used lots in Sichuan, but Yunnan loves that flavor too. Called 花椒油。Imparts a distinctive 口感 element, sort of numbs the back part of the tongue and makes the mouth tingle.

 

 

I suppose if you wanted a meatless version, you could just stop here. I wanted meat in mine, so this is the point at which I added the roast pork. Dash of salt 盐 (soy sauce is salty, so use a light hand) and MSG 味精 if you want it.

 

Toss it for a minute or less to let the flavors combine. These ersi are nice to work with because they don't become sticky or mushy. Plate it up.

 

 

 

A tasty one-dish meal. Prep time about 10 minutes; cooking time about 10 minutes; clean up about 10 minutes.

 

It's easy to make variations on this according to your preferences and budget. Cheaper to buy raw meat and cook it yourself. (I took a shortcut.) It's fine to use a fatter cut, such as 五花肉。Dali people usually add chili sauce 辣椒 and pickled greens 酸菜。 

 

The only trick might be finding ersi 饵丝 or 饵块。I'm really not sure how available they are in other parts of China, to say nothing about other parts of the world. If nothing else, you can remember to try them when you visit Yunnan. All you need to say is chǎo èrsī, or write out 炒饵丝 on your phone.

[imron]

@abcdefg, when are you going to start a Chinese cooking channel on YouTube?

[abcdefg]

Probably never. I only know how to cook simple stuff.

[gato]

A beginner Chinese cooking channel sounds good. 

[imron]

I only know how to cook simple stuff.

Even better!  Many people would love to know how to cook simple stuff.

 

I imagine a basic format would just follow how you set out these posts

 

-trips to the market and choosing/buying the ingredients

-preparation of ingredients, pointing out useful/interesting facts (e.g. taking out seeds for less heat etc).

-cooking everything up, talking about the process as you go

-finished meal with talk about preparation cooking times, possible variations and so on.

 

It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just get someone to film you on an iPhone/iPad or whatever while you're going about doing all those things, do a bit of editing, and maybe do some overdubbing to get clear audio/explanations and you should be good to go.

 

I'm sure there would be plenty of people interested.

[abcdefg]

Thanks. I'll think it over. Would be better if I could talk one or another of my Chinese friends into being the star, and I would just film it.

 

I've been fortunate in finding good teachers.

[roddy]

I actually clicked on this intending to tell you you should be posting videos! Bit trickier to set up the sound and lighting and so on though. 

[laurenth]

Yummy. I wish I had a gas stove, I'd buy a wok and try your receipts, abcdefg (supposing I could find the ingredients). But alas I guess a wok would not get along well with my induction hobs  . Or maybe I could try with a standard frying pan. What do you think? Is that anathema?

[abcdefg]

@Laurenth, I'll bet you could use a standard flat-bottom frying pan just fine. An induction cooktop is so fast and efficient. Should work well. Give it a go and let us know! 

 

--------------------------- 

 

Edit to add: Today I was in an appliance store (here in Kunming) and saw that they not only had the usual flat convection hot plates, but they also had some with a concave surface made specifically to fit a wok. Probably only available in China. (5/8/2015)

[skylee]

Eat that, and drink red wine.

[Shelley]

When i first saw the title for this topic I thought it said Stir Fried Ears

 

Now when ever I see the title it makes me laugh, the finished result though bears no resemblance to ears of any kind and looks delicious

[abcdefg]

Haha Shelly! The same (ear) radical for sure.

 

And Skylee, I did have some Australian red with it. Good combination!

[imron]

Would be better if I could talk one or another of my Chinese friends into being the star,

There are plenty of Chinese cooks cooking on Youtube, but not so many retired western doctors living in China doing cooking on Youtube.  Getting a Chinese friend to stand in for you would arguably lose some of the character that your current posts have.

[Shelley]

The same (ear) radical for sure.

 

That too, so ears twice

[abcdefg]

Follow up -- The leftovers

 

Next day I used most of the leftover ersi 饵丝 as an ingredient in a hearty chicken-vegetable soup.

 

 

This morning I used the rest of them with scrambled eggs and tomatoes.

 

 

(The paring knife is just for size. The green bits are spinach.)

[laurenth]

abcdefg, tonight I tried to reproduce your 炒饵丝 receipt 8,500 km away. It ended up a bit different than in you post, though.

 

At noon, instead of putting on more weight at the office cafetaria, I went to the local Chinese supermarket. As I had feared, they had no 饵丝, but there was 年糕. So, as I had understood that 饵丝 basically was a kind of sliced 年糕, I purchased a pack.

 

 

Unexpectedly I did find a bottle of 花椒油. (While I was there, I stumbled across 泡辣椒将, so I also bought a jar to try later with bamboo shoots). I had 老抽 at home, so no need to buy.

 

 

Now, I was supposed to be alone with the children tonight, I did not want the meal to be too spicy, so I decided to keep the red peppers but to replace the spicy greens peppers with spring onions. Why not?

 

 

 

Also, I'd probably have no time to roast pork tenderloin, so I bought some chicken fillet instead in order to make diced chicken.

 

After cooking and dicing the chicken, I started by cutting the 年糕 into noodle-like things. I used scissors, as it was much easier than with a knife. Here's the result:

 

 

After that, I simply followed your receipt, except that I did not start with the garlic, as I known it tends to burn very quickly: I put it *after* the red peppers had begun to wilt. While the peppers were wilting, I checked the meaning of the word "to wilt" in a dictionary and I tried the 花椒油. Just. Whoa. How can I put it? Oh, yes, as you said: "it sort of numbs the back part of the tongue and makes the mouth tingle", but you have to try it to believe it.

 

As I'd never cooked 年糕 / 饵丝 before, I was a bit nervous, but I followed your guidelines to the letter ("add the ersi on top [of the peppers and garlic] and let them soften for a minute. Then toss it all together for 3 or 4 minutes"), and it was just perfect. Added the seasonings, diced chicken, salt, no 味精. Than added the spring onions at the very last minute.

 

The result:

 

 

3 out of the 4 kids, plus myself, really enjoyed the meal (kid #4 only ate the chicken). I opened a bottle of wonderful Bandol rosé wine. Perfect.

 

Thanks for the inspiration abcdefg.

[abcdefg]

That's great, Laurenth! So glad that it worked out well. You discovered one of the virtues of this simple food: namely that it can be modified, changed around to suit your family's taste and the local availability of ingredients. Food like this is versatile and "forgiving." Low risk of disaster.

 

China does have some dishes that must be made to precise specs. I call these "fussy" recipes, and don't attempt them at home. Those are ones I let a restaurant handle; I will pay for their expertise. Must remember that I'm only an amateur.

 

I had wondered how this dish might be with chicken. Glad to know your experience. I might use chicken next time myself. Using green onions sounds like a perfect way to tone down the spiciness.

 

Terrific idea to use nian gao when er kuai was not available. Good improvisation! The main difference between er kuai and nian gao is that nian gao is made with glutinous rice 糯米, whereas er kuai is made with standard white rice. So there's a texture difference. Er kuai is a little "stiffer."

 

Appreciate your coming back to post your experience. And congratulations for taking the chance on trying it at home!