One pork and mushroom stew tender and tasty, made even more special by the Sichuan pepper and the Chinese 5-spice mix.
The meat of this mushroom and pork stew, shoulder or loin, is marinated for 8 hours with a mixture of spices and sauces and cooked for 3 hours, over a very low heat. A recipe that requires preparation time and patience, but which will reward you in taste and aroma.
A unique dish that I can easily include in the list of my favorite autumn comfort foods. A recipe full of nuances and contrasts, consistencies, flavors and temperatures. That here you can find the beef version.
The 5 Chinese spices for my pork and mushroom stew
I wanted to use a mixture of spices typical of China and in particular of the Sichuan, or Szechuan, region in southwestern China, from which the famous pepper takes its name.
In reality it is a false pepper, obtained from red berries which, once ripe and dried, open, revealing a small internal seed. The flavor is slightly spicy and pungent, but above all citrus.
Sichuan pepper is one of the protagonists of the 5 spice mix, together with fennel seeds, which give an almost licorice aftertaste, a pinch of cinnamon, to make the mixture warmer and “rounder”, star anise and cloves, often used for marinating the tastiest meats.
My secret ingredient
To make this Cantonese pork stew even more special, I highlighted the presence of mushrooms in the broth too, using the Granular Bauer Porcini Mushroomsa natural and quality product, without added monosodium glutamate.