Stir-fried rice vermicelli with pumpkin and shredded pork
Pumpkin shreds cooked down until sweet and soaked up by rice vermicelli, with pork, dried shrimp and shiitake for savour — golden, fragrant and a full meal on one plate.
- 35 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: A balanced constitution simply needs to eat with the season. Bailu's days are hot and its nights cooler, so meals should warm the stomach without being heating. Pumpkin is in season and tonifies the middle; lean pork moistens dryness, and dried shrimp and shiitake add savour. Rice vermicelli is light and easy to digest, so this fills you up without weighing you down.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 15 min- 1Soak the vermicelli in warm water for 15 minutes until soft, snip shorter and drain. Soak the shiitake and dried shrimp until soft and slice the mushrooms. Peel the pumpkin and cut into fine shreds.
- 2Mix the pork with 1 tsp of the soy sauce and the cornflour and leave for 10 minutes. Heat 1 tbsp oil and stir-fry the pork until it changes colour, then lift out.
- 3Add the remaining oil and fry the shallots, dried shrimp and shiitake until fragrant. Add the pumpkin and stir-fry for 3 minutes until soft, then pour in the water and bring to the boil.
- 4Add the vermicelli and the remaining soy sauce and toss with chopsticks until the liquid is absorbed. Return the pork, add the spring onions cut into lengths and the pepper, and toss well.
Cautions
- Leave out the dried shrimp if shellfish disagrees with you.
Chef's tips
- Cut the pumpkin into fine shreds so it softens quickly and releases its sweetness; once the vermicelli is in, lift and toss with chopsticks rather than pressing with a spatula so it doesn't break up.
The TCM view
Pumpkin is sweet and warm, entering the spleen and stomach, tonifying the middle and boosting qi. Lean pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and moistening dryness; dried shrimp is sweet and warm, supporting the kidneys and stirring the appetite; shiitake strengthens the spleen and boosts qi; rice vermicelli settles the stomach. Together they tonify the middle and moisten dryness while staying gently balanced.
