Detailed Recipe for Suo Kuo (Crispy Pork Bowl) Making: Meat Selection is Key, Proper Potting Techniques, and Requires Double Frying

During this Lunar New Year, adults no longer rush to prepare 'bama xi', and finally had a chance to relax.

Taking this opportunity, I learned several traditional countryside dishes, and the one that is best, both delicious and easy to learn, is 'Suo Kuo' – a must-have dish for rural banquets.

This dish is formally known as 'Suo Rou Kuo Wan'. Its essence is to bring out the authentic flavor of the meat, with a rich aroma of fat and lean.

Because of this, the quality of the meat is very high, and anyone who loves meat will be unable to resist its temptation.

Now, let's teach everyone how to make it.

Step one:

Delicious dishes start with selecting the meat. Generally, pork neck meat is most commonly used, preferably pork from three-fifths with fat.

If the meat is too fatty, too lean, or of poor quality, it will affect the taste when fried.

Step two:

Prepare the meat slurry: red sweet potato starch + eggs + appropriate amount of water + a spoonful of salt. Let the starch fully absorb the water and then stir evenly.

Then pass the selected meat through water and boil it into chunks, then coat it with the slurry.

Note: it must be cut into large chunks, not the usual size for crispy pork, but larger chunks.

Step three:

Prepare a hot pot of oil, heat until wisps of smoke appear and then reduce the heat. Put the coated meat into the hot oil pot to fry.

It is important to emphasize that when the meat is put into the pot, it needs to be cooked slowly, so that the bottom part of the batter forms first, then the whole piece is put in, and then the heat is increased to medium.

Step four:

Fry for about 2-3 minutes, after forming, take it out, and then coat with the slurry again and fry.

This is a very important step to make the crispy pork skin thicker.

Step five:

Fry until golden brown, take it out, and after draining the oil, let it cool, and then continue the next step.

Step six:

Cut the fried 'suo ku' into slices, potatoes into chunks, and arrange them in the bowl in the order of 'suo ku' on the bottom and potatoes on top.

After that, put it on the stove and steam it over high heat for 40 minutes.

Step seven:

The steamed 'suo ku' still needs a final step – inverting.

Use a bowl or plate to invert it. After inverting, the potatoes are at the bottom, and the pork is on top. Then add some green vegetables and a little sauce prepared in advance (the sauce can add a little vinegar, green onions, and ginger).

However, unfortunately, when serving, someone is busy and doesn't come back in time. When they return, the 'suo ku' has already been eaten.

But everyone can imagine its stunning final effect.

'Suo Ku' recipes are varied, and you can adjust them according to your own taste.

Because we used our own local pork, we basically didn't add other spices like pepper and Sichuan peppercorns.

According to what older generations said, this method is difficult to achieve in cities because of the demanding raw materials, and many people don't have the patience to do it.

Every time I return to my hometown and eat a bowl of authentic 'suo ku', it's the happiest thing for a meat lover like me.