What is Chinese fast food?

Kuaican! A style of eatery in China that’s usually translated ’fast food’, but that translation obscures a bit of the true essence of the food, I feel. In this video we’ll teach you two classic ’stir fry kuaican’ (现炒快餐) dishes - Jiangbao (“sauce explosion“) tofu and Zhacai fried pork slivers - which conveniently end up being pretty solid choices for the home cook, too. 0:00 - What is Chinese food food (kuaican) like? 1:19 - Dish 1, Jiangbao Tofu 3:37 - The other kuaican components, rice & veg 4:45 - Dish 2, Zhacai Pork Slivers 7:27 - Other kuaican styles? JIANGBAO TOFU Sourcing: Mostly the usual suspects here, sweet bean paste is available on both Amazon and Weee: The brand that’s on Amazon is what we use in China (Weee is currently out of stock of that brand), but it certainly wouldn’t be worth that hefty Amazon markup if you can help it. Ingredients: * Soft tofu (嫩豆腐), 300g. Either gypsum or nigari tofu is ok * Brine for the tofu: Salt, 1 tsp; Hot, boiled water, ~2 cups (enough to submerge the tofu) * Sauce for the stir fry: Sweet bean paste (甜面酱), 1 tsp; soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp; Liaojiu . Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 1/2 tsp; salt; 1/4 tsp; sugar, 1/2 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp; water, 1 tbsp * Aromatics: garlic, 2 cloves, minced; mild or medium chili pepper, ~1 small, cut into 1cm pieces * Optional: Chili bean paste (郫县豆瓣酱), 1/4 tsp (only include if you already have on hand) * Slurry of 1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water Process: Drain your tofu and cut into about one inch cubes. Mix with the hot brine, let soak for at least 15 minutes. Mix your sauce and prepare your aromatics. Remove the tofu from the brine. To fry, first longyau (piping hot wok, heat off, toss in ~3 tbsp oil, give it a swirl). Medium flame, heat the oil up until it can bubble around a pair of chopsticks, then slide in the tofu. Fry on one side for ~3 minutes, or until the oil becomes clear again, then scooch the tofu up the side of the wok. Toss in your chili bean paste, and fry that until it stains the oil red, ~1 minute. Fry the garlic until fragrant (~30 seconds), then swap the flame to high. Add in the sauce. Quick 15 second fry. Chilis in. Swap the flame to low, thicken with the slurry. ZHACAI Sourcing: Zhacai is very available online. This is the exact sort that we used (though this package is double ours): 微辣榨菜Chongqing-Fuling-Zhacai-Preserved-Mustard/dp/B06XKZWJ13/ The Amazon price for this one actually isn’t so bad given that it’s a pack of 10. But as always, your local Chinese supermarket will have better deals and is worth supporting. Ingredients: * Zhacai, Sichuan Preserved Mustard (榨菜), 80g * Pork loin (瘦肉), 200g * Marinade: salt, 1/4 tsp; sugar, 1/4 tsp; cornstarch (生粉), 1 tbsp; soy sauce (生抽), 1/2 tsp; liaojiu . Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 1/2 tsp; white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp; water, 2 tbsp; oil to coat, ~1 tsp * Oil, ~5 tbsp -or- enough to *almost* submerge the pork in your wok or pan * Aromatics: garlic, 2 cloves, minced; ginger, ~1/2 inch, minced * Liaojiu . Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp (for use when frying) * Seasoning: soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp; dark soy sauce (老抽), 1/4 tsp; salt, 1/4 tsp; sugar, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp * Beansprouts, 50g * Carrot, 20g, julienned * Slurry of 1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water Process: Slice the pork into ~2 inch slivers, and then marinate. Prep the aromatics and the carrot. To fry, first shallow fry the marinated pork slivers over a high flame, ~180C. Once they look almost done, ~30 seconds, stir fry for another ~15 seconds to cook evenly. Remove, toss in a strainer, make sure the excess oil drips off. Remove enough oil from the wok to get ~2 tbsp remaining. Low flame, fry the aromatics, ~30 seconds til fragrant. Swap the flame to high. Add the Zhacai, fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in the wine. Pork in, quick mix, add the seasoning, another quick mix. Toss in the beansprouts and the carrot, fry for ~30 seconds, then swap the flame to low. Thicken with the slurry. ______________ Visual of the wok station is courtesy of the channel “Spread the voice of China“, here: And check out our Patreon if you’d like to support the project! Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ Found via My Analog Journal (great channel):