Nyonya Recipe: Stir-fried Pork with Cincaluk (Heh Ya Kay Char Bak)

A few months ago, I introduced cincaluk (preserved shrimp) to the world my readers with a special Nyonya dish "steamed eggs with cincaluk." Today, I am giving you the second installment of this unique ingredient with stir-fried pork with cincaluk. Known in Hokkien dialect as Heh Ya Kay Char Bak, this Nyonya creation graced my family's dining table very often when I was growing up. While cincaluk is not everyone's cup of tea, for those who love it, it lends a very distinct and exotic flavor to the main ingredient, in this case, pork. The generous use of green bell peppers, red chiles, cincaluk, fried shallots and garlic add great colors and infuse the pork with droolsome aroma and pungent taste. This is what the Chinese call 色香味, meaning color, aroma, and taste... Cincaluk is unique, versatile, and loaded with powerful (aka stinky) and complex flavors...are you up for it? Related Recipe: Steamed Eggs with Cincaluk Recipe: Stir-fried Pork with Cincaluk (Heh Ya Kay Char Bak) Adapted from Nonya Flavours: A Complete Guide to Penang Straits Chinese Cuisine Ingredients: 2-3 tbsp oil 3 shallots (thinly sliced) 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced) 1/2 lb pork fillet (cut into small pieces) 4 teaspoons cincaluk 1 tablespoon tamarind juice 1 tablespoon sugar Salt to taste 1 red chili (deseeded and cut into small pieces) 1/2 bell pepper/1 green chili (deseeded and cut into small pieces) Method: Heat up the oil in a wok over medium heat to fry the shallots until they turn golden brown and crispy. Dish out and set aside. In the remaining oil, fry the garlic slices until fragrant and just lightly browned. Remove half of the garlic and set aside before adding the cincaluk. Saute the cincaluk until fragrant before adding red chiles and bell peppers. As soon as you smell the aromas of the chiles and peppers, add in the meat. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and add the tamarind juice, sugar, and salt to taste. Continue to stir fry the pork until it's cooked; dish out onto a serving plate. Top the stir-fried pork with cincaluk with shallot crisps and fried garlic slices.