I first learned of this dish at a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, NY. The owner/chef was from Taiwan, and the restaurant has survived fierce competition for many years. It is not a fancy restaurant and only serves home cooking dishes. I heard Michelin Guide once sent critics to visit and write reviews about the place.
This is a traditional Taiwanese dish. It gets its name due to the fermented, black beans that look like fly’s heads. It represents the multicultural influences and melting pot nature of food in Taiwan. Since I rarely use fermented black beans in my dishes, I replaced it with black bean garlic paste which also takes care of usage of garlic.
The ingredients in the dish are very simple but could be daunting to people not familiar with eastern Asian dishes. However, as culture fusion continues, there are more and more Asian grocery stores, and most of them should have these ingredients. As with many Asian dishes, it is best served with steamed white rice.
Fly's Head 苍蝇头
Equipment
- 12“ frying pan
Ingredients
- 0.5 pound chives with bud (chive flower)
- 5 oz ground pork
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 piece red chili pepper
- 1 tbsp black bean garlic paste (sauce)
- sprinkle salt
Instructions
- Rinse the chives, and remove the bud
- Mince the chives and red chili pepper
- Place the pan on the stove top, turn heat to high, and add oil
- Once the pan becomes hot, add the ground pork. Stir and press the pork with a spatula to break the pork clumps into fine pieces. Keep the heat at medium to high
- Once the pork pieces become dry and turn brown, add the minced red chili and bean paste. Stir to mix all the ingredients well
- Turn the heat to high. Add the minced chives, and sprinkle some salt. Quickly stir and toss for about 60-90 seconds.
- Remove the pan from the heat, plate, and serve
Video
Notes
- When sautés the ground pork, you want to make it dry.
- After the chives are added, heat needs to be set at high, and the stir time needs to be closely watched. If stirred too long, the moisture in the chives comes out. The chives would turn a yellowish green and the dish would be watery.
- Instead of using the fermented black beans that are used in the authentic recipe, I use black bean garlic paste which could be used in other dishes, such as pan fried green bean.
- If no fresh red chili peppers are available, dried chili peppers would work similarly.
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