Shaoxing Drunken Pork Hocks with Soy Bean Sprouts, Sawtooth Herb and Cumian Noodles

     Shaoxing wine is a famous traditional Chinese wine from the Shaoxing region in the Zheliang Provence.  This fine eastern China rice wine is renowned worldwide.  It has a light brown color and a very rich flavor that is unlike clear fresh rice wines.  

     There are many different brands of Shaoxing wine and some are vintage aged.  The bottle of Shaoxing in the pictures above is a nice brand that I have used in years past.  The markets in Chinatown Las Vegas stock a wide variety of Shaoxing wine and Chinese wines.  

     Shaoxing wine takes the place of rice, when it is served with a meal.  Like all alcoholic beverages in China, it is looked down upon for women to partake, because women customarily are not supposed to appear as sloppy or drunken.  That is not a bad thing at all.

     Shaoxing wine is used for many meat recipes.  Some of the famous Shaoxing wine recipes are called drunken.  It seems like every wine or beer producing culture has a drunken recipe of some kind in their culinary history.  I posted a nice German Beschwipster Huhn (drunken chicken) recipe in this blog last year.   The Chinese have every drunken recipe from Shaoxing drunken rabbit to Shaoxing drunken pork in their repertoire.  Nearly any meat can be prepared Shaoxing drunken style!

     Like many Chinese marinade recipes, the Shaoxing drunken marinade is not discarded.  The marinade is used to make the sauce.  Waste not, want not!

     Pork hocks or pork knuckles benefit from the Shaoxing marinade.  The marinade makes the meat tender and it adds flavor.  Sawtooth herb (pak chee farang) has a nice strong cilantro flavor and it is commonly used with beef and pork.  Chinese chefs sometimes add sawtooth herb to recipes, but this herb is more commonly seen in Thai and Vietnamese recipes.  

     This is a nice Shaoxing wine drunken recipe!     

     Shaoxing Drunken Pork Hock Marinade: 
     Place 2 tablespoons of thin soy sauce in a mixing bowl.
     Add 3/4 cup of Shaoxing wine.
     Add 4 drops of sesame oil.
     Add 1/2 of a chopped red Thai chile pepper.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic paste.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 4 medium size sawtooth herb leaves.
     Add 1 tablespoon of sugar.
     Add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.
     Mix the ingredients together.
     Add 2 thin cut pork hocks that weigh 4 to 5 ounces apiece.
     Marinate for 1 hour in a refrigerator.

     Cumian Noodles:
     Cumian wheat flour noodles are the same as Japanese udon noodles or Korean udong noodles!
     Boil a pot of water over high heat.
     Add 1 portion of cumiam noodles.  (udon)
     Cook the noodles just long enough for them to become fully cooked, but not soft.
     Remove the cooked udong noodles from the hot water and immediately place them in a container with ice water to shock the noodles.
     Gently swirl the noodles in the ice water, so they cool quickly and so any excess starch is removed from the noodles.
     Remove the noodles from the ice water and set them aside.
   
     Shaoxing Drunken Pork Hocks with Soy Bean Sprouts, Sawtooth Herb and Cumian Noodles:    
     Heat a saute pan or wok over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of vegetable oil.
     Add the 2 marinated pork hocks.  (Do not discard the marinade!)
     Saute till brown highlights appear on both sides of the pork hocks.
     Add 2 green onions that are cut into bite size pieces.
     Saute till the green onions start to cook.
     Add the reserved marinade.
     Add 1 cup of pork broth.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat.
     Simmer the pork hocks in the sauce, till the sauce reduces to 1 1/2 cups
     Raise the temperature to medium/medium high heat.  
     Add 2 handfuls of soy bean sprouts.
     Cook till the sprouts become al dente.  (about 2 to 3 minutes)
     Place the cumian noodles on the center of a large soup bowl.
     Place pork hocks on top of the noodles.
     Place the soy bean sprouts around the noodles in the bowl.
     Pour the hot brothy drunken sauce over soy bean sprouts and pork hocks.
     Garnish the bowl with sawtooth herb leaves.  (pak chee farang)

     A simple delicious Shaoxing drunken pork hock recipe with the nice cilantro flavor of sawtooth herb!  Even better, with cumian noodles!  Shaoxing wine adds a very nice flavor.  Yum!  ...  Shawna