G[quote=“J_L, post:9, topic:5673”]
At our house, the Northern Chinese (not Korean) ragu: Ground pork (or 1/2 beef 1/2 pork), sesame oil, dried/soy tofu cubes, diced slightly boiled carrots, diced slightly boiled white turnip, black bean sauce, soy sauce, a hint of ground fresh garlic, touch of salt, touch of pepper, small shot of corn starch in solution, a dash of MSG (yes, MSG - deal with it). Note I did not mention suan cai or gan cai (preserved or dried vegetables).
[/quote]
Okay, I used what you told me and prepared your ragu.
This was so good! E. was over and I made him a bowl and he chowed it down. I loved the vegetables, they really added to a nice combination of textures.
I didn’t use a cornstarch slurry, the sauce was dry enough that it didn’t need thickening. Also, I didn’t have dry tofu, so I used tofu cutlet instead.
Here is your recipe, as I reconstructed it:
@J_L’s Family Recipe for Northern China Ragu
Ingredients:
5 oz. Ground pork (or 1/2 beef 1/2 pork)
[Mixed with 1/4 tsp. cornstarch]
2 Tbsp. sesame oil/peanut oil
2 oz. dried/soy tofu cubes
1.5 oz. diced slightly boiled carrot
1.5 oz. diced slightly boiled white turnip
1 Tbsp. black bean sauce [I used Korean fermented black bean sauce]
1 tsp. soy sauce [light]
dashes of MSG, salt, [white] pepper
- Heat oil in wok, add pork, fry 2 minutes;
- Add carrot, turnip, and tofu, fry 30 seconds;
- Add soy sauce, black bean sauce, and seasonings;
- Remove from heat, stir and toss until pork and vegetables are evenly coated.
The brackets indicate where I made an educated guess regarding ingredients.