Yuxiang Rousi

Yuxiang rousi is a Sichuan stir-fried dish of thin pork strands cooked with wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoot and carrot in a sauce that is sour, sweet, salty and hot.

What it really is

The dish is built on pork loin or tenderloin cut into fine shreds and marinated with soy sauce, cornstarch and a little Shaoxing wine. The shreds are stir-fried quickly over high heat with wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoot, spring onion, garlic and ginger, then finished with a sauce of chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), vinegar, sugar and soy sauce thickened with a little starch.

The name "fish-fragrant" refers to a flavour profile of the Sichuan pickling seasoning used for fish dishes, not to any fish ingredient. The same combination of garlic, ginger, spring onion, pickled chilli, sugar and vinegar is used for eggplant and other vegetables. Compared with dry-fried shredded pork, the sauce here is wet and glossy, and the seasoning is sour and sweet as well as spicy.

How it's served

• Served hot over steamed white rice as part of a shared meal with other dishes.
• Eaten with chopsticks, with the rice bowl held close to the mouth.
• Usually ordered alongside a vegetable dish and a soup in a home-style or Sichuan restaurant setting.
• Often finished with a few pieces of spring onion or coriander on top.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredients: pork, wood ear mushroom, bamboo shoot, carrot and spring onion, with the sauce described as sour, sweet and spicy.
• Flag soy (soy sauce, doubanjiang), wheat (soy sauce and starch) and sulphites where Shaoxing wine or vinegar is used.
• State if the dish is made with pork, since the classic version is not made with fish, despite the name.
• Common variants include a version with beef or chicken, and a less spicy version; state the change if the protein is substituted.