Stir-Fry Szechuan Preserved Vegetable with Meat Recipes

This is my sister Elizabeth favorite dish so my mom cooked this pretty often in our home. Zha Chai or Szechuan preserved vegetable is easily available at the Asian store here in the US. It either comes whole in a can or ready shredded in a vacuum packed. In Malaysia it’s sold whole and coated with chili paste. Zha chai is very salty so I will usually cut and soak in the water for a several hours before cooking it. This dish is spicy, salty and sweet and it goes well with rice or rice porridge.

Ingredients:
1 packet (8 oz) preserved vegetables
1 chicken breast/4 oz of pork – Slice thinly
3 cloves garlic – chopped
1 shallot – sliced thinly
1” ginger – julienned
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

1. In a frying pan, heat up about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the garlic, shallot and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in the meat; stir fry until the meat changes color. Add in the shredded Szechuan vegetables, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. Add in about ¼ cup of water and bring it up to boil.
3. Continue to stir-fry for a minute or two or until all liquid evaporate. Check seasoning. At this stage you can adjust the sweetness and saltiness to your liking.
4. Serve with either rice or rice porridge.

Note: If you use the whole preserved vegetable, julienned it thinly and soak it in water for a couple of hours. If you use the pre-shredded kind with chili, it is up to you if you want to rinse or soak it or not.