Stir-fried pork with bell peppers is a traditional Sichuan home-style dish. I loved my mom's version when I was little, and seeing bell peppers in season these past few days has made me really craving it. But since I'm on a diet, I decided to make a low-calorie version. I bought pork shoulder, which is more tender and only has 155 calories per 100 grams. There's no need to use tenderloin; it's too dry, and the calories are about the same. Nowadays, most home-style stir-fried pork with bell peppers is made with fermented soybean paste, but I recently saw a veteran Sichuan chef share an old-fashioned recipe, supposedly from the 1970s, which uses sweet bean sauce. This isn't surprising, as Sichuan cuisine isn't just about spiciness. Traditional dishes like twice-cooked pork and stir-fried pork with green peppers also use sweet bean sauce—specifically, Sichuan-style sweet bean sauce, which is much less sweet than northern-style sweet bean sauce and has a fermented black bean aroma. It's available in Sichuan and Chongqing markets, and luckily I had some at home, so it came in handy. If you don't have it, you can use fermented soybean paste; it's also super delicious! 😋
Materials
Steps for making shredded pork with bell peppers (so delicious it doesn't seem like a diet meal)
This is a bell pepper, not a regular bell pepper. It's thinner than a regular bell pepper, making it more suitable for stir-frying as it cooks faster and tastes better.
Cut bell peppers, young ginger, and pork into strips. Because the pork shoulder has some fat, I only used 87 grams. If you're using lean meat or chicken breast, you can use up to 100 grams, and for those with a larger weight, 150 grams or more is fine.
Mix shredded pork with salt, cooking wine, and cornstarch, marinate for a few minutes.
Make a thickening sauce: cornstarch, salt, MSG, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, and a small bowl of light soy sauce and water. Look at this spoon, the tiny spoon from the spice box; only a tiny bit of salt and MSG is added.
One spoonful of light soy sauce, the kind used for eating glutinous rice balls.
The sauce is made with these ingredients: a small amount of cornstarch, about 3-5 grams, salt, MSG, light soy sauce, and a small half bowl of water. Mix well.
Without adding oil to the pan, add the bell peppers and a pinch of salt for seasoning. Cook over low heat until about half-cooked, then remove from the pan.
Add a little oil to the pan, about 10-15 grams, then stir-fry the shredded meat until it changes color and is separated from the meat. Regular version: Add more oil and meat, and stir-fry normally.
It changed color very quickly after being stir-fried.
Add some sweet bean sauce, or fermented bean paste will do. Look at this spoon; I only added 1/4 spoonful of sweet bean sauce because we have less meat, so we use less seasoning. Normal version: Double the amount of sweet bean sauce according to the amount of meat.
It quickly developed a soy sauce flavor.
Now add the bell peppers and shredded young ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds. I forgot to add the young ginger in the picture, so I added it at the end.
Pour in the cornstarch slurry, stir-fry over high heat, and remove from heat.
These are shredded young ginger added after thickening the sauce; they don't significantly affect the texture or flavor.
It's served with some rice, and it's super delicious. It doesn't feel like a diet meal at all. Those who love young ginger should definitely try making it.
This is the calorie chart; click to see the full image. Even with rice, it only contains around 300 calories, so you can eat it without worry during your weight loss period.
