Pork Stew with Shiitake Mushroom, Carrot and Wheat Gluten Stove Top Version | BIG Bites MY

Pork Stew with Shiitake Mushroom, Carrot and Wheat Gluten

This is one of my favorite one-pot dishes. Anything with Shiitake mushrooms is always yummy to me! This is really SO EASY LAH! Preparation time is only about 10 minutes. And then it's just an hour to let this dish cook slowly for a yummilicious meal. The recipe shown here feeds 2 - 3, just double up accordingly if you are cooking for more. Soooooo good with a bowl of rice!

Watch video for step-by-step method of preparation

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Serving: 2 - 3 (increase portions accordingly if you are cooking for more)

Ingredients:

• 200g pork shoulder cubes
• 6 pork meatballs
• 6 Shiitake mushrooms
• 8 wheat gluten balls
• 1 carrot
• 12 snow peas or sweet peas 
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 thumb-size ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon groundnut oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 365ml (1.5 cups) water

Method:

1. Shiitake mushrooms:
• Rinse Shiitake mushrooms twice and soak with 240ml (1 cup) of water to rehydrate mushrooms. It will take a while to wait for the mushrooms to bloom, so to save time, I usually do this the night before and pop it into the fridge and it will be ready to use the next day. 
• When the mushrooms have rehydrated, snip off the stems. If it's too big, cut into halves. 
• Strain the mushroom stock (soaking liquid) and set aside
2. Wheat gluten balls:
• Soak wheat gluten balls to soften and rehydrate them. This will only take about 10-20 minutes. 
• Once it has softened, drain and set aside
3. Pork:
• Place pork cubes into a pan and cover it with water
• Bring it to boil over MEDIUM LOW heat
• Once it starts to boil, let it simmer for 3 minutes
• The scum and impurities will float to the top
• Pour the liquid away and rinse pork cubes under running water to wash away the scum. Drain and set aside.
4. Peel ginger and slice it
5. String snow peas or sweet peas
6. Peel carrot and cut it into discs (about 1cm thick) and then halve the discs
7. Heat up sesame oil over MEDIUM LOW heat
8. Add ginger and saute until fragrant
9. Add Shiitake mushrooms and saute until aromatic
10. Add pork cubes and stir to combine
11. Add oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Stir to combine.
12. Add the mushroom stock
13. Add pork meatballs
14. Cover and braise. Stir occasionally.
    Total braising time is about an hour - until pork and carrot are tender.
15. After 15 minutes: Add wheat gluten balls and another 125ml (1/2 cup) of water. Cover and continue braising.
16. After 30 minutes: Add carrot. Cover and continue braising.
17. After 45 minutes: Pierce test to check if pork and carrot have softened. Continue braising if it is still hard.
18. After 60 minutes: Pierce test again to check if pork and carrot have softened. If not, then cover and braise for another 15 minutes before checking again. 
19. If pork and carrot is tender, then taste and flavor to your liking. Remove from heat and set aside. 
20. Bring water to boil in a saucepan over MEDIUM LOW heat. Add salt and groundnut oil. Blanch snow peas (15 seconds) or sweet peas (30 seconds), whichever you are using. Remove and set aside. 
21. Add blanched snow peas / sweet peas into stew and stir to combine before serving. 

Notes:

• I am using wheat gluten balls for this recipe because I have some at cooking time. However you may omit this if you are not using this ingredient, or you can replace it with firm tofu cubes (deep fried to golden first).