Taste Etc: Steph Huang

It feels morally wrong to write a recipe that is not vegan-friendly nowadays, but pork was a staple in the Taiwanese diet. I remember going to the massive, Western-style supermarket in the car when I was little, looking out curiously through the rear window. If I was lucky, I would spot an open-air pig truck, with pigs standing next to each other, sticking their noses, ears, and tails out between the rails.

When we cook at home, we never bother to measure to the gram or get the right spoon but trust our instincts. I’ve taken this approach here too. The laborious work to be done by hand is my protest to a society that pursues convenience and efficiency. Beautiful things take time.

Fold Your Hands with Chilli Oil

In a large bowl, mix your mince (pork is traditional, but chicken, chopped prawn or crushed tofu will do, too) with a few pinches of salt, feeling it get sticky, then leave for ten minutes. Add some light soy sauce and a dash of rice wine or gin and leave for another ten minutes. In the meantime, squeeze a few spring onions and some thinly sliced ginger in a small bowl of warm water until fragrant. Reserve liquid.

To the mince mixture, add a few drops of fish sauce and sesame oil, chopped spring onion and grated ginger (or you can reuse the ones in the water), garlic, white pepper and crispy fried shallots. Then, stir in one egg white and a spoonful of corn starch. Finally, beat in the spring onion and ginger liquid. At this point, you can fry a small amount of the mix to check the seasoning. Freeze for two hours.

Next, make the sauce. Grind Sichuan peppercorns and set aside. Take a handful of chilli flakes, plus a small pinch of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, star anise and white peppercorns and grind together. In a small, deep pan, fry the spices, except the Sichuan pepper, in a generous amount of oil. Drop a bay leaf and some sesame seeds into the pan and fry over a medium heat for three minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat, add chopped garlic, enjoying the sizzling sound, then the Sichuan pepper. Whisk in light soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.

To make the wrappers, mix plain flour with a pinch of salt, and add enough water to form a medium-hard dough. Rest for 30 minutes. Knead it to form a smooth dough, and rest for another half an hour. Roll into paper-thin layers, and pat with corn starch to prevent sticking. Stack and cut into square-ish sheets.

Form the parcels by scooping a spoonful of filling into a wrapper. Wet the edges and close them casually.

Boil water in a deep pan and drop in a few parcels. Cover and bring back to a boil over high heat. Pour in a cup of cold water and bring back to a boil. Repeat two more times before pouring through a strainer. Drizzle some sauce on top and serve.

^{Steph Huang is Taiwanese art practitioner based in London. Art Now: Steph Huang is open at Tate Britain until 5 January 2025.}

^{Hand of Pork is included in The 80s: Photographing Britain, 21 November 2024 – 5 May 2025.}