Garlic Chives with Ground Meat (Cang Ying Tou - 苍蝇头)

Recipe picture

Description

Garlic Chive Stir Fry with Pork or Cang Ying Tou (苍蝇头) literally translates to “Flies’ Heads” in Chinese. Have this garlic chive stir fry over rice!

Preheat your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke slightly. Turn down the heat, and let the wok cool down a bit before adding 1 tablespoon of the oil. (This step of superheating the wok before adding oil prevents the meat from sticking to the wok. This method works well for pan-frying anything--fish included.)
Once the oil is heated, turn the heat down to medium, and add the ground pork. Cook it until the meat is lightly browned. Add in the Shaoxing wine, ½ tablespoon light soy sauce, and the sugar. Mix well, turn off the heat, and transfer the cooked meat to a bowl.
Now turn the heat down to low, and add the last 2 tablespoons of oil and the ginger. Cook it for a minute, then add the garlic and fermented black beans. Cook everything for a minute or two, taking care to avoid burning.
Next, add peppers, and turn the heat up to high. Stir fry everything together, and let it cook for a minute uncovered. Then, add in the cooked pork and garlic chives (if you use scapes, you will need to extend the cooking time at the end for 1-2 minutes with the wok lid on) and stir-fry.
Now it’s time to add in the remaining light soy sauce (1½ tablespoons) and the sesame oil. Stir-fry to combine. At this point, you can salt to taste, but the fermented black beans are quite salty--I found that I didn’t need to add any salt. But be fast about it, because the garlic chives cook quickly.
Transfer to a dish and serve with steamed rice.

2025-07-17: original recipe called for pork, made it with beef, and was delicious.