Pork Thread – an Excellent Pork Side Dish

If you were an “adventurous” eater in the early to mid-2000s, you’ve probably had your fill of bacon, or at the very least, tired of the creative uses for bacon. Pulled pork strips were everywhere, from smoothies to dessert, as a kind of menu SEO, whether it made sense or not. I don’t blame the bacon; it can’t help that it’s a great product, but there’s another pork side dish that deserves just as much attention: pork floss.

If you are familiar with Asian cuisine, I will not say anything new. Meat floss is a common finishing ingredient in many Asian cultures and is prepared by stewing meat in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and seasonings until the muscle fibers are separated. The meat is then filtered, dried, and fried to make a fluff that looks like cotton candy. It is often flavored with monosodium glutamate. These are the rules.

You can get fish floss, chicken floss, beef floss, and rabbit floss, but pork floss (also called “pork fu” or “pork sung” which are slightly different ) seems to be the most common, at least in Asian markets in my city. (You can also order it online .)

Pork floss is salty, meaty, sweet, full of umami and good for everything. The texture is delicate, slightly crunchy and prone to wilt when sprinkled on hot, smoky foods, so add it at the last minute to experience maximum textural contrast.

It is traditionally used to flavor congee, tofu, plain rice, and as a topping or filling in pastries, buns, and dumplings. You can also eat it on its own, like fluffy jerky. If you want to move away from traditional usage, you can do so with ease. If you want to finish the dish with bacon or even parmesan cheese, you can finish it with pork floss. I added a little to my morning scrambled eggs and my only regret is that I didn’t add more. Like cotton candy, pork floss melts easily on the tongue, deflates and makes you want more, so don’t be afraid to pile it up.

My plans for my current pork floss bath include a cool and crunchy sliced ​​salad, fluffy baked potato, pineapple pizza, grilled cheese sandwich, deli salads, a large stack of pancakes (with maple syrup), and a warm spring onion pancake ( I also don’t mind wrapping it in a tortilla.) You can even take a full 2009 and sprinkle it on a maple bar, an ice cream platter, or a slice of chocolate cake.

Due to the fact that it is dried and fried, there is very little water in pork meal. It will keep almost indefinitely in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, but it’s so easy to eat that I doubt you need to worry about it “spoiling”.