Sesame oil pork liver with ginger (麻油豬膶)
A quick Taiwanese-style confinement dish: pork liver stir-fried with plenty of ginger in black sesame oil — cooked right through, and best kept to once a week.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Serves
- 2
Method
- 1
Clean the liver. Rinse the slices and soak them in cold water for 15 minutes to draw out the blood, changing the water once. Drain, pat dry, and mix with the cornflour and soy sauce.
- 2
Fry the ginger. Heat the sesame oil over a low heat and fry the ginger slowly for about 5 minutes, until fragrant and the edges curl.
- 3
Cook the liver. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the liver and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the water and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the liver is cooked right through: firm, steaming hot, and with no pink left when you cut into the thickest slice.
- 4
Serve straight away, scattered with spring onion, with rice.
About this dish
Sesame oil liver (麻油豬肝) is a Taiwanese confinement classic that's now common in Hong Kong kitchens too. Liver is rich in iron, and in Chinese tradition it's eaten after birth to "replace blood" (補血).
Tips
- Slice it evenly, about 5mm thick, so every piece cooks through at the same time without going tough.
- Traditional versions cook the liver in rice wine instead of water. Cooking doesn't remove all the alcohol — see chicken in rice wine if you're breastfeeding.
- Buy it fresh from a butcher or Chinese supermarket, and cook it the same day.
- Sesame allergy: this dish is cooked in sesame oil, one of the 14 major food allergens in the UK.
Sources
About these recipes
- These are traditional home recipes, shared for cultural interest. They are not medical or nutritional advice, and we don’t claim any dish treats, prevents or cures anything.
- If you have allergies, gestational diabetes or a special diet, or take any medicines or herbal remedies, check with your midwife, health visitor, GP or pharmacist before changing what you eat.
- Follow UK food-safety advice: cook meat, fish and eggs thoroughly; cool leftovers and get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours; eat them within 2 days; and reheat only once, until steaming hot.
- Some recipes contain alcohol, and cooking doesn’t remove all of it. If you’re breastfeeding, read our guide to ginger vinegar and chicken in rice wine first.
Experienced carers cook dishes like these every day of the confinement month, and adjust them to how you’re feeling.
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