Sichuan Cuisine · FFET10252
Gan guo hua cai (dry pot cauliflower)
Gan guo hua cai is cauliflower stir-fried with pork belly or bacon until the liquid is gone, traditionally served in a small pot.
A round white porcelain plate holds pork belly and cauliflower coated in a glossy brown glaze, with garlic, ginger, dried chilies, long red chili and green scallions, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
The regional cooking of Sichuan and Chongqing, known for its wide range of flavour types.
Gan guo hua cai is cauliflower stir-fried with pork belly or bacon, garlic and dried chilies until the liquid is gone. The dry pot in the name means it is served in a small pot over a tiny flame, traditionally on a layer of sliced onions. It belongs to Sichuan cooking. The account of the dry pot style originating in Deyang, Sichuan, becoming popular in Chongqing after 2004 and spreading east and to Guangdong after 2005 has weak sourcing. No date or place was found for the cauliflower dish itself.
What
Gan guo hua cai is cauliflower florets stir-fried over high heat with browned pork belly or bacon, garlic and dried chilies until tender-crisp, with the liquid cooked away. Traditionally it comes to the table in a small pot over a small flame.1,2
When
No dated text was found for this dish. The account of dry pot becoming popular in Chongqing after 2004 and spreading east and to Guangdong after 2005 has weak sourcing and concerns the style, not the cauliflower dish.3
Where
The dish belongs to Sichuan cooking, with no specific town identified. The dry pot style is variously said to have originated in Deyang, Sichuan, or Mianyang; the cauliflower version's birthplace is undocumented.2,3,4
How
Pork belly, or bacon, is browned in the pan before the rest goes in. Garlic, ginger, dried chilies and the cauliflower are then tossed over high heat and seasoned with soy sauce and wine, or with soy sauce and chicken broth, with a little water added. The pan is covered for 1–2 minutes and the liquid cooks away, and scallions go on at the end.1,2
Why
The dry pot in the name means serving in a small pot over a tiny flame, traditionally on a layer of sliced onions. The reason for using cauliflower is undocumented.1
Impact and influence
The recipe authors often ate this dish while in China.1
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
According to one recipe, gan guo hua cai is traditionally served in a small pot over a small flame; I have no such pot at home and serve it straight from the wok. The method mainly follows a recipe by a named author: thin slices of pork belly, 450 g of cauliflower and 10 cloves of garlic, seasoned with soy sauce, wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and sugar. A recipe by another named author uses bacon and chicken broth, and from it I took what the two recipes share: 450 g of cauliflower and covering the pan for a minute or two once the sauce is in. The pork marinade, the amounts of the seasonings and the stir-frying times are my own choices at home, and the grams and milliliters are my conversions from ounces and cups.
Ingredients
- Pork belly 225 g, sliced about 3 mm thick
- Salt, for the pork 1/4 teaspoon
- Light soy sauce, for the pork 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
- Cooking wine, for the pork 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
- Cauliflower 450 g, in small florets
- Cooking oil 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
- Garlic 10 cloves, smashed
- Ginger 4 slices
- Dried chilies 6, snipped in half
- Long red chili 1, sliced on the diagonal
- Light soy sauce, for the seasoning 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
- Cooking wine, for the seasoning 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
- Oyster sauce 15 ml (1 tablespoon)
- Sesame oil 5 ml (1 teaspoon)
- White pepper 1/4 teaspoon
- Sugar 1/2 teaspoon
- Water 120 ml (half a cup)
- Scallions 2, cut in sections
Steps
- Slice the pork belly about 3 mm thick and mix it with the salt, 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of wine. Leave it for 15 minutes. Break the cauliflower into small florets, rinse and drain them; smash the garlic, slice the ginger, snip the dried chilies, slice the red chili and cut the scallions.
- In a small bowl, mix the sauce: 15 ml light soy sauce, 15 ml wine, the oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar and 120 ml water.
- Heat the wok, add the oil and spread the pork slices over medium heat. Fry for two or three minutes, until the edges are lightly browned, some fat has run out and no pink is left inside.
- Add the garlic, ginger, dried chilies and red chili and stir for about half a minute until fragrant.
- Add the cauliflower, turn the heat to high and toss for about 2 minutes, until the florets pick up a few browned spots. Pour in the sauce, cover and cook for a minute or two.
- Uncover, turn the heat to high and toss until the liquid has almost gone, then scatter the scallions on top. Taste a piece of cauliflower: it should be tender-crisp and not raw. Serve.
Tips
- I break the cauliflower into small florets. This is my own habit: they cook quickly and take up more of the sauce.
- For the traditional look, do as one recipe describes: serve it in a small pot on a layer of sliced onions over a tiny flame. At home I serve it straight from the wok.
Allergens: soy, wheat, shellfish, sesame