“Do you wanna eat intestines on Thursday?”
“…maybe not…”
When I received cleaned intestine from Weee! grocery and excited to roll up my sleeves and cook Stir-Fried Intestines with Pickles for guests the day after tomorrow, I got the above response… I can’t blame my friend for not loving intestines, it is quite uncommon and intestine does SMELL real bad before cooking… Still, I felt so 卑微 (help me translate please, humble? inferior? upset?) that my friends didn’t want to try my dearest intestines, felt like my real friend (intestines of course) got looked down upon haha 😉 well it’s their loss, I always order intestines, ALWAYS (GIF of Snape talking about Lily). KBBQ with intestines, down! Stir-Fry intestines, hell yeah! Bring them all on!!
Different areas have different ways of cooking intestines, I don’t even know if stir-fried intestines with pickles is southern or northern China-origin. Even the process to cook it is fairly long, at least 2-3 hours, I will make it thousands time as long as I get my hands on discounted, clean intestines. Yes, 2022 inflation has affected my grocery frequency and flexibility 🙁 I need salary inflation! (boss, if you are reading my post, you know what to do)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- three very straightforward (but time-consuming) main steps: braise in master stock, 卤；air-fry to make it crisp and get rid of fat, 炸；stir fry with pickles and peppers, 炒
- if you do not have master stock, you can stir fry intestines in soy sauce, oyster sauce after air-frying to get the flavor.
- high temperature of air-frying helps get rid of moist from master stock and speed up the crisping process
- check air-fryer every now and then to prevent burning intestines! they already shrink so much in size as they get air-fried and squeezed out juicy fat, don’t wanna lose extra intestines right?
RECIPE
- 卤水 master stock (maybe I need another separate post just for this huh…)
- large intestines (small intestine would also work, just not as “juicy”/fatty)
- cooking wine
- ginger slices
- scallions
- sour pickles (I got them store-bought)
- dry pepper OR, brave souls like me, FRESH jalapenos
- garlic slices
STEP 0: clean intestines if needed by washing intestines inside out, outside in, in water mixed with flour, vinegar, baking soda. Wash it like washing clothes for a few times. YES IT STINKS (even when you are braising it next steps, that’s the enduring for delicious foods isn’t it)
STEP 1: in cold water, add abundant cooking wine (few tbsp), ginger slices, scallions, the three main ingredients help getting rid of intestines odor. Add in intestines, cook till boil for 5-10mins. Rinse cooked intestine in water, wash off any dirt/blood.
STEP 2: braise the clean intestines in master stock for at least 1 hour. If prefer softer texture, do not like to chew, braise for 2 hours.
STEP 3: leave intestine in the master stock overnight(s), if the master stock gelatinized, can reheat so the flavor completely goes in intestine.
STEP 4: cut intestine into bite size with scissors (directly cut in the pot rather than taking intestines out, cut on cutting board, and wash the board, leaving you a clean counter)
STEP 5: transport intestines to air-fryer, air-fry for 400F / highest temp. for 15-20mins; check every 5mins so they are not burnt and also to mix up the intestine, getting every intestine bite, every side crisp.
- this step help get rid of more fat inside the intestine; after you are done air-frying, you can almost get a small bowl of lard from frying basket..
STEP 6: slice jalapeno or dry peppers, slice a few clove of garlic, stir fry in oil.
STEP 7: add in 1-2 packages of chopped pickles and stir fry till fragrant
STEP 8: transport intestines into the post, mix well and coat intestines with pickle (or the other way around if you have wayyyy more intestines than pickles 😉 )
READY TO SERVE!
