Qilin Elephant Stomach
A decorative specialty from Western Fujian, made by stuffing pork tripe with milk-fed dog meat and steaming.
Ingredients
milk-fed puppy (1, slaughtered, eviscerated, head/tail/paws removed)
1500 g
pig stomach (1, thoroughly cleaned inside and out)
1000 g
star anise
5 g
seasonal greens (cleaned)
100 g
white sugar
5 g
ginger slices
50 g
MSG
5 g
Shaoxing wine
25 g
cooked pork lard (about 55 g consumed)
250 g
soy sauce
30 g
pork bone broth
200 g
scallion strips
15 g
Instructions
1
Preparing the dog meat
Slaughter the dog, drain off all the blood, split the belly and remove the entrails. Wash thoroughly, then scald evenly with hot water at 60°C, pluck off the hair, chop off the head, tail, and paws, and cut the meat into 3 cm cubes. Heat a wok over medium fire, add the dog meat cubes and dry-stir for about 20 minutes to release all the bloody water and gamey odor. Continue stir-frying until the juices have evaporated, then remove from the wok.
2
Stir-frying the dog meat
Wash and dry the wok, place it back over medium heat, add the cooked pork lard, and heat to about 70% hot. Add the scallion strips and fry until crisp and golden, then pour into a strainer to drain off the oil. Return the wok to medium heat, add 50 g of cooked pork lard, melt the white sugar, and when it turns reddish, add the soy sauce. Quickly toss in the dog meat cubes and stir to coat them evenly with the caramel color, then add the star anise, ginger slices, pre-fried scallion strips, and bone broth. Keep stir-frying until the sauce thickens; when the meat is about half-cooked, add the Shaoxing wine and MSG to taste, pour the meat and sauce into a bowl, and set aside to cool.
3
Stuffing into the pig stomach
Thoroughly clean the pig stomach inside and out, drain it well, and use kitchen string to tightly tie shut the cardia and pylorus openings. Stuff the cooled stir-fried dog meat cubes through the slit into the pig stomach, fasten the opening with bamboo skewers, and place the stuffed stomach into another bowl. Wind a length of the reserved cardia opening together with the stomach to shape it like an "elephant". Lay scallion strips over the stuffed stomach, pour over the stir-fry sauce (picking out the star anise and ginger slices first), cover the bowl with its lid, and steam in a steamer over medium heat for 2 hours. Remove and discard the scallion strips.
4
Plating
Clean the seasonal greens, blanch in a pot of hot water until just cooked, then remove and cut into long strips. Arrange them at both ends of a long serving platter. Transfer the steamed Qilin Elephant Stomach to the center of the platter and shape it into the "elephant" form. Untie the string at the cardia and pylorus, pull out the bamboo skewers from the opening, and pour the steaming juices over before serving.
