Salt and Pepper Pork (or Tofu or Crab)

Ingredients:

Seasoning:

• 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, toasted and ground

Garnish:

• Chopped hot peppers (jalapeno, serrano, or thai bird, up to you)
• scallions, sliced thin

• 1 lb pork:
  • pork spare ribs cut against the rib into 1.5 inch lengths then cut again into cubes.
  • pork shoulder steaks cut half inch thick then cut into manageable pieces
  • pork loin sliced against grain into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices

Method

Sprinkle 1 tsp baking soda over pork and mix to coat each piece. Let it sit for 1 hour. Rinse off baking soda thoroughly, pat dry. Add 2 tsp dark soy to pork, stir to coat evenly. Dredge in corn starch. Fry in neutral oil at 375 F until golden brown. Drain. Season with salt mixture, top with garnishes, serve.

Variations

You can also do this with chicken wings, squid (cut into rings), firm fleshed white fish like cod (sliced into bite size pieces), head on shrimp, or the San Francisco favorite, Dungeness Crab (broken down into individual legs and body segments, dredged then fried). Skip the baking soda and soy treatment for these, just dredge in cornstarch, fry and top with salt mix and garnishes

Vegetarians can also do this with tofu. Drain and press the tofu for 20 min or so. Cut into cubes, season with salt and a little bit of light soy. Let marinate for an hour or two. Drain then dredge in corn starch. Deep fry, top with salt mixture and pepper garnish.[category:Dinner]]