Stuffed Green Peppers (Qingjiangiang)

Ingredients

• 8-9 Green bell peppers (choose straight, thick-fleshed ones; do not use sweet bell peppers)
• 250g Pork (best with fatty/lean ratio of 3:7, preferably 'early loin')
• 2 Scallions
• 1 Small piece of Ginger
• Light Soy Sauce
• Dark Soy Sauce
• Salt
• Cooking Oil
• Starch (optional, for coating the inside of peppers to prevent sticking and thickening the sauce)
• 3-4 Cloves Garlic (optional)
• Oyster Sauce (optional)
• Cooking Wine (optional)
• 1 Egg (optional)
• White Pepper Powder (optional)
• White Sugar (optional)
• Shrimp Paste
• Shrimp (250g for Shrimp Paste version)

Steps

1. ### Prepare the Filling
2. Wash the pork and chop into a mince (or use a meat grinder). Finely chop the ginger and scallions.
3. Add the ginger, scallions, 15ml Light Soy Sauce, 5ml Dark Soy Sauce, and 3g Salt to the minced pork and mix well.
4. Optional: Add 10ml Cooking Wine, 10ml Oyster Sauce, 1 Egg, 5g Starch, 2g White Pepper Powder, and 5g White Sugar.
5. Stir the meat filling in one direction until it becomes sticky and binds well. Marinate for 10 minutes.
6. ### Prepare the Peppers
7. Wash the peppers, remove the stem, and carefully use chopsticks to remove the seeds and white inner membranes from inside, keeping the pepper whole and intact.
8. Optional: Sprinkle about 5g of dry starch on the inside of the peppers and shake evenly to help the meat stick without falling off.
9. ### Stuff the Peppers
10. Fill the prepared peppers with marinated meat filling using chopsticks or a piping bag. Fill them as much as possible without making it too tight to avoid bursting.
11. Once all peppers are stuffed, set them aside aside.
12. ### Make the Sauce
13. In a bowl, mix 15ml Light Soy Sauce, 5ml Dark Soy Sauce, and 100ml Water.
14. Optional: Add 5g Starch to make the sauce thicker.
15. ### Pan-fry and Stew
16. Heat the wok and pour in 30ml Cooking Oil. Once the oil is about 50-60% hot (warm), place the stuffed peppers in the wok (meat side down first).
17. Pan-fry over medium-low heat. Flip the peppers so all sides are browned/blistered (tiger skin color). Remove and set aside.
18. Leave a little oil in the wok. Optionally, add garlic and sauté until fragrant.
19. Pour in the prepared sauce. Bring to a boil and add the pan-fried peppers.
20. Turn to medium-low heat, cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes until the sauce thickens and peppers soften.
21. Turn to high heat and reduce until the sauce becomes glossy and clings to the peppers. Serve and plate.
22. ### Shrimp Paste Version
23. Stuffed green peppers with shrimp paste is also very common in Guangxi and is considered the authentic way, not heresy~
24. Remove the shrimp line from 250g shrimp. Mince with the back of a knife (keep some texture for better mouthfeel). You can also just buy ready-made triangular shrimp paste piping bags and stuff directly.
25. Season the shrimp paste: 5g Ginger, 2g Salt, 5g Starch, 10ml Light Soy Sauce.
26. Optional: Add 5ml Cooking Wine, 1g White Pepper Powder, and half an egg white.
27. Stir in one direction until the paste binds well. Marinate for 10 minutes.
28. The stuffing, frying, and stewing steps are consistent with the pork version.
29. Shrimp paste cooks faster, so reduce the braising time to 4-5 minutes.