Taiwanese Sausage Stir-Fry with Garlic Shoots
Recipes with Taiwanese Sausage
Sliced Taiwanese sausage stir-fried with garlic shoots (suanmiao, 蒜苗) is a classic home cook's dish across Taiwan. The garlic shoots are sweeter and less sharp than raw garlic, and they stay green and slightly crisp after a fast pass through a hot wok. The sausage contributes its own fat to the pan, and the sweetness in the meat and the vegetable flavour work together. This appears on the home dinner table and in small local restaurants serving rice-plate lunches.
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
8 min
Servings
2
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- 3 Taiwanese sweet pork sausages (xiangchang), sliced on the diagonal into 5mm coins
- 200g garlic shoots (suanmiao) or garlic scapes, cut into 5cm lengths
- 1 red chilli, sliced thin (optional)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- White pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
Steps
Heat the wok over high until smoking. Add the neutral oil.
Add the sausage slices in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 1 minute to get colour on the flat cut surfaces. Toss and cook 1 more minute. The sausage renders its own fat into the pan.
Add the white or tougher parts of the garlic shoots first. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the remaining garlic shoot pieces and the red chilli if using. Pour in the soy sauce and rice wine. Toss everything together over high heat for 90 seconds. The garlic shoots should be bright green and just tender with some crunch remaining.
Remove from heat. Add white pepper and sesame oil. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Tips
Garlic shoots are sold at Asian grocery stores, particularly Taiwanese and Chinese markets. If unavailable, substitute garlic scapes (the curly green tops from hardneck garlic) or leeks. The sausage slices brown better when sliced on the diagonal — more surface area, more caramelisation. Do not add salt: the sausage already carries soy and salt from its seasoning.