Yen Can Cook: Stir Fried Chinese Leek with Waxed Meat

January 31, 2019 Choi Yen 5 comments

Waxed meat 腊肉 – During winter in China, families will start the process of curing, salting and smoking meat for the year ahead. Fish, various types and cuts of meat and poultry are cured to waxy sheen using this process. The best time to buy wax meats or waxed sausage is during Chinese Chinese New Year as winter is dry and perfect condition to cure it.

Leeks – one of the auspicious food to eat during Chinese New Year because its pronunciation in both Mandarin and Cantonese sounds like calculating (“算”). Due to the similar sounds, it is believed that eating leeks is an auspicious symbol of wealth (lots of money to count) in the coming year.

Leeks have a mild, onion-like taste and I believe not many people like this vegetable. But when stir fried with waxed meat, the salty savoury flavor of the waxed meat will slightly offset the vegetable’s distinctive taste. Like all vegetable stir fries, this recipe is very quick and easy to prepare. From start to finish, this dish can be served in less than 20 minutes. (b^_^)b

Ingredients (serve: 3-4)

200g Chinese leeks

150g waxed meat

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2 table spoon water

Salt to taste

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Step 1: Blanch waxed meat with boiling water to get rid of excess oil. Cut the meat diagonally.

Step 2: Wash and drain Chinese leeks. Cut off the roots cut diagonally.

Step 3: Heat a wok or large pan, fry the waxed meat (Step 1) until fragrant and lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Dish up and set aside.

Step 4: With the oil released from the waxed meat, add in garlic and saute until fragrant. Add in leeks, soy sauce and pepper and continue to stir fry about 3-4 minutes. Add water if it is too dry.

Step 5: Return the waxed meat (Step 3) to the wok, stir to get all the ingredients well mixed. Season with salt if necessary.

Step 6: Serve

HAPPY COOKING!

5 comments

Phong Hong
January 31, 2019 7:13 pm

I love leeks. So far I have not attempted to cook waxed meat because I don’t know how to go about it. From your recipe, I learnt something. I think I would enjoy this dish a lot!

- Choi Yen
  February 12, 2019 12:37 pm
  
  PH, it’s actually similar with how you prepare the waxed sausages aka Lap Cheong~ 🙂
  
eatwhateatwhere
February 6, 2019 8:42 pm

I don’t like waxed meat, so I usually fry leeks with lap cheong 🙂

- Choi Yen
  February 12, 2019 12:33 pm
  
  Kris, same result if you substitute the waxed meat with Lap Cheong 🙂
  
Pingback: Yen Can Cook ~ Stir Fried Choy Sum with Siew Yoke – Mimi's Dining Room

Yen Can Cook: Stir Fried Chinese Leek with Waxed Meat

5 comments

Leave a Reply to Phong Hong Cancel reply