P
Chinese · Shanxi Province
Shanxi Pork with Vinegar (Cu Liu Li Ji) — Shanxi Vinegar Application
Cu liu li ji (醋溜里脊) — vinegar-braised pork tenderloin strips — is the definitive Shanxi vinegar dish: tender pork strips are velveted, quick-fried, then tossed in a sauce built almost entirely around aged Shanxi chen cu (aged vinegar). The acidity is direct and forward, modulated by sugar and soy. This dish is the vehicle through which Shanxi chefs demonstrate their vinegar's quality.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the velvet marinade
400 g
pork tenderloin
cut into thin strips
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
egg white
Your own market
1 tbsp
cornstarch
Origin · ChinaWismettac · Vancouver →
For the sauce
60 ml
Shanxi chen cu (aged vinegar)
Donghu or Hengshun imported; majority component of sauce
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
soy sauce
1 tsp
sugar
Your own market
1 tsp
2 tbsp
neutral oil
for stir-frying
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Combine the pork strips with the egg white and cornstarch. Work the mixture into the meat with the fingers until every strip is evenly coated. Rest for 15 minutes. The surface should feel tacky and slightly stiff — that resistance is the velvet coat set.
2
Whisk together the chen cu, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the same bowl. Taste the sauce raw: it should read almost aggressively vinegary at this stage. The heat, fat and pork will moderate it.
3
Heat the wok over the highest available flame until it smokes. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Lay in the pork strips in a single layer and fry without moving for 20 seconds, then toss once. Total frying time must not exceed 45 seconds. This is where the dish lives or dies: ten seconds past done and the tenderloin is dry and stringy beyond rescue. Remove the pork the moment the strips turn opaque and just white through.
From the canon — The carbon-steel wok is the fundamental tool of Chinese cooking — not merely a frying pan but a cooking instrument whose specific properties (extreme thermal… The Wok: Seasoning, Maintenance, and Heat Management →
4
Pour the sauce mixture into the still-hot wok. It will bubble immediately. Stir constantly for no more than 15 seconds — long heat drives off the volatile aromatics that make aged vinegar complex. The sauce is ready when it thickens just enough to coat the back of a spoon and clings without pooling.
5
Return the pork to the wok, toss once to coat every strip, and plate immediately. The finished dish should carry a bright, forward acidity with perceptible malty depth; the sauce film should be glossy and thin, not viscous.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Imported, properly aged Shanxi chen cu — Donghu or Hengshun — with demonstrable malty complexity; pork tenderloin sourced from a butcher the same day.
02
Estate — Imported aged Shanxi vinegar of a lesser-known producer; centre-cut tenderloin from a good supermarket butcher counter.
03
Market — Domestically produced Chinese aged vinegar of acceptable depth; standard supermarket pork tenderloin, well-trimmed.
04
House — Any dark Chinese vinegar available; pork tenderloin from any source. Do not substitute white distilled vinegar — the malty depth that defines the dish is absent.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Velveted pork strips feel tacky and slightly resistant to the finger — the egg-white and cornstarch coat has adhered evenly.
◇Taste. Raw sauce tastes sharply, almost aggressively acidic — correct; the wok heat and fat will moderate it.
◇Sight. Pork strips turn uniformly opaque and white through within 45 seconds of hitting the wok — the signal to remove immediately.
◇Smell. Sauce in the wok releases a sharp, malty vinegar steam within seconds; prolonged cooking flattens this to a dull acidity.
◇Sight. Finished sauce coats the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy film and does not pool on the plate.
◇Where it lives or dies. The pork tenderloin must leave the wok within 45 seconds — it passes from tender to dry and stringy in the time it takes to look away.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
Sourced through Provenance