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Five Spice Tofu with Shredded Pork (香干肉丝)

Name: Shredded Pork with Bean Curd (香干肉丝)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces boneless pork shoulder or loin ((225g, cut into thin strips about 1½-inches long)); 1½ teaspoons cornstarch; 3 tablespoons water; ⅛ teaspoon sugar; 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine; 1 tablespoon light soy sauce; 3 tablespoons oil ((divided)); 1 tablespoon ginger ((minced)); 1 teaspoon garlic ((minced)); 1 medium carrot ((julienned)); ½ cup red bell pepper ((julienned)); 8 ounces spiced bean curd ((225g, julienned)); 3 scallions ((cut into large pieces)); ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce; ¼ teaspoon sugar; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon water; Salt ((to taste))

by:

Judy

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Updated: 7/18/2025

Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu (香干肉丝) is a longtime family favorite that everyone at TWOL can agree on when eating out. Even though I cook this dish often at home, we still like splurging on the restaurant version. However, I’d never really taken the time to ponder why until a reader asked me for a version of this dish with more sauce “like how the restaurants do it.”

A Restaurant Version of a Home-cooked Dish

Just like that, I started thinking of all the ways to improve on the recipe that I’ve been cooking all this time. It only took 20 years for the lightbulb to go off! So I thought it over and realized that restaurants not only make this dish slightly saucy, their bean curd is also softer, and the meat is juicier and more tender. What I usually do with this stir-fry is cook each ingredient separately, then stir fry them together at the end, especially the pork and the five spice tofu. Thinking back, though, I would always cook them just a little too long, browning them a bit too much. A clear case for less is more! To improve my old recipe, I also applied my latest discovery of adding water to the meat marinade so the pork is even more tender than if you were to just marinate it with cornstarch. Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

A Word on Tofu

The tofu (or bean curd) I use for this recipe is pre-cooked five spice tofu. The five-spice version is light brown in color, but there is also a plain version that is light yellow in color. We have plenty of tofu recipes–Ma Po Tofu, Crispy Tofu Tacos, Beef with Tofu, and Home-Style Stir-Fried Tofu.

But I want to expand and share recipes that use other ready-made soy bean products like this five-spiced bean curd. Hopefully you all enjoyed dishes like our Chinese Tofu Salad and Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Tofu Skin. Because the good news is, I have a few more to share!

Five Spice Tofu with Shredded Pork: Recipe Instructions

Combine the pork with all of the marinade ingredients (cornstarch, water, sugar, Shaoxing wine and light soy sauce) and let stand for 15 minutes. Preheat the wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, and stir-fry the pork until it just turns opaque (i.e. only until it looks cooked––no need to brown it any longer than that). Turn off the heat, remove the pork from the wok, and set aside. Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

Next, add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok set over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

Then add the carrots, bell peppers, and five spice tofu. Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

Turn the heat up to high, and stir fry for 1 minute. Next, add the cooked pork, scallions, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon water. Stir and mix everything well. Salt to taste, and serve. Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

This recipe is so straightforward that I was almost worried that I forgot a step, but it hardly takes any time at all! Shredded Pork with Five Spice Tofu, by thewoksoflife.com

About

Judy

Judy Leung is the matriarch of The Woks of Life family, working on the blog alongside husband Bill and daughters Sarah and Kaitlin. Born in Shanghai, China, she immigrated to the United States at sixteen. Fluent in both English and three Chinese dialects, she also plays the important role of researcher and menu translator! Drawing from over four decades of cooking experience and travel, Judy aims to bring Chinese culinary traditions to readers and preserve recipes that might otherwise be lost to time. Her expertise spans from Shanghainese cooking and everyday homestyle dishes to a variety of regional foodways, showcasing the depth and breadth of Chinese cuisine for a global audience. Over the last decade, she’s helped transform The Woks of Life into what Saveur Magazine has deemed “the internet’s most popular Chinese cooking blog,” co-written a New York Times bestselling cookbook, and become convinced that we will never run out of recipes to share!