Discover Taiwanese steamed minced pork/beef with soya-pickled cucumbers

Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers is a classic Taiwanese dish. We call it ‘rice killer’ because everyone can finish a lot of bowls of rice with it. One of my favourite school lunch dishes in primary school was Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers. It is also a common and popular main dish in Taiwanese bento takeaway restaurants.

There are several ways to make Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers. This is my mom's recipe, and it has been a favourite of mine since childhood. I highly recommend you try Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers if you are looking for:

a quick and simple dish for your dinner and a lunch box for the next day, or
a high-protein dish with your rice after your workout

Let’s get started!

Hight Protein Rice Killer! Taiwanese team minced pork with soya-picked cucumbers — Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers - Rick Killer!

Difficulty: simple

Health features: gluten-free, high protein

Time: around 30 minutes (10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook)

Ingredients:

Minced pork (pork back leg preferable): 600g (You can use beef mince as an alternative)
AGV Pickled cucumbers with soya sauce: 1 can (180g)
Soy sauce: 30ml (2tbps)
White grape wine/cooking rice wine: 30ml (2tbps)
Garlic: 1 bulb (adjustable)
Spring onion: 50g (adjustable)
Ground black pepper: a little bit - around 0.5-1tp (adjustable)

Tips for choosing ingredients:

Minced pork/beef: The pork cut is the key to the taste and texture of this classic Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers. I recommend using pork back leg because it is tendered and slightly chewy. It is also a meat with higher protein and less fat, a healthy protein option.

You can also use the standard minced pork in Coles, Woolworths or meat shops. However, it is not recommended to use purely lean minced pork/beef because the dish will taste dry.
Traditionally, this classic Taiwanese dish uses pork. However, if pork is not an option for your diet, you can use beef. When I first came to Australia as an international student, I always used beef mince to cook this dish because it was cheaper than pork mince in the supermarket.
Soya-pickled cucumbers: In Australia, you can usually find two brands of soya-pickled cucumbers in the Tongli or other Asian supermarkets, Tomo Foods and AGV. I recommend using AGV because it has just the right amount for this recipe. Also, AGV is a big and popular food company in Taiwan. Nevertheless, you need not worry about dealing with the leftover soya-pickled cucumbers. If it is fine to use Tomo Foods’ soya-pickled cucumber, you can still make tasty Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers.
Cooking wine: For choosing cooking wine, Taiwanese people traditionally use cooking rice wine. You can find them in Tongli and other Asian supermarkets. I use white grape wine because I find it works very well in many Taiwanese and Asian cuisines. You do not need expensive white grape wine. A cheap white grape wine in a Bottle shop or any liquor shop will work. That is one of the reasons I switched from a cooking rice wine to a cheap white grape wine because they are cheaper.

Step-by-step guidance

1. Use the food processor, blender, or meat grinder to mince the pork back leg. You can skip this step if you buy mined pork/beef from the shop.

If you use a food processor or blender like me, do not blend it too long because it will become a meat paste. It is easier for you to blend half a portion of the pork each time so it is evenly blended.
Check whether there are any big pork pieces. If so, remove them and cut them into smaller pieces manually.
One key to ensuring the texture of this dish is good is that you can taste some small pork meat cubes in the finely minced meat.

2. Mince garlic, cut spring onions and pickled cucumbers into small pieces

Finely mince the garlic and cut spring onions to blend their flavours with the pork. This also helps avoid solid and direct bites of garlic or spring onion.
Cut soya-pickled cucumbers into smaller pieces, but not too small, so you can taste them when you have this dish.

3. Mix all ingredients in the big bowl and ensure that the minced pork or beef absorbs all liquid ingredients.

Mix minced pork, garlic, spring onions, the whole can of soya-pickled cucumbers, ground black pepper, soya sauce and white grape wine.
Ensure you add all the sauce in the soya-pickled cucumber can to the minced pork/beef. It is the main and key flavour of this dish.
When all liquid ingredients have absorbed all liquid ingredients, you will see the bottom of the bowl is dry.

4. Use a Tatung multifunction cooker to steam it on the plate/bowl for 20 minutes.

I like to use a Tatung multifunction cooker to steam food because it is convenient and safe.
Put all the ingredients into the inner pot and add a cup of water (around 200ml) to the outer pot. Press the cook button, and it will steam for around 20 minutes.
Once done, the Tatung multifunction cooker will switch to the keep warm mode automatically, so I do not need to worry about the dish getting overcooked.
If the pork or beef is still pink in the middle, you can steam it for another 10 minutes.
If you are not sure whether to get a Tatung multifunction cooker, you can get it on Kogan, Amazon, and lots of other Au online shop.

5. Alternatively, you can also use traditional steamer to steam the dish.

Use a high flame to boil the water.
Once the water is boiled, add the steamer layer and use medium flame to steam for 20 minutes.

6. Ready to serve!

Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers is the best match with rice! Make sure you add the sauce to the rice.
I like to eat five/ten grains rice because they have lower GI and are more healthy. You can find ten/give grains rice in Tongli or other Asian supermarkets.
If you have tried my sweet and sour cucumbers recipe, it is also a good match with this Taiwanese steamed minced pork with soya-pickled cucumbers. If you haven’t tried this recipe, here is the link: Taiwanese pickles - sweet & sour cucumber

I hope this simple and tasty dish brings more variety to your lunch and dinner! If you have any questions or have good experience following this recipe, please leave a comment below. I am looking forward to hearing from all of you.