The defining dish of Taiwan's Hakka kitchen: rehydrated dried squid, pork belly, and pressed tofu cut into matchsticks and stir-fried with celery, scallion, and garlic shoots in soy sauce. The pork is rendered first so its fat carries the dish, the squid lends a deep marine savor, and the tofu soaks up the sauce — a study in salty-fragrant balance.
Hakka stir-fry grew straight out of Hakka frugality and ritual. On worship days a family would lay out the 'three sacrifices' — pork, dried squid, and pressed tofu — then, rather than waste the cooled offerings, slice them up and stir-fry them when guests came. Salt-heavy and oil-rich, the dish suited a hardworking farming people who needed food that kept and travelled, and it became the single dish most people name first when they think of Hakka cooking in Taiwan.
Chewy ribbons of dried squid give the dish its backbone — slightly tough, intensely savory of the sea. Pork belly is crisp-edged and rich; the pressed tofu is firm and sauce-soaked; celery and garlic shoots cut through with green freshness and crunch. Everything is bound in a dark, salty-fragrant soy glaze with a faint sweetness. Built to be eaten with rice.
Sequence is everything. The pork belly is dry-fried first until its fat renders out and the edges crisp — that rendered lard becomes the cooking fat that flavors all the rest. The dried squid must be soaked back to life beforehand and is fried until its edges curl and its umami amino acids concentrate. Firm tofu and aromatics follow, and a splash of rice wine and soy deglazes and glazes in one move. The celery and garlic shoots go in last so they stay crisp and green rather than wilting into the sauce.
Variations
Recipes vary by household and region; some add dried shrimp, fried tofu skin, or red chili for heat, and a splash of dark soy for color. Hsinchu and Miaoli versions lean saltier and squid-forward. The non-negotiable trio is pork belly, dried squid, and pressed tofu.
On the Palate
Where Hakka Stir-Fry sits in the Taiwanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 130 min
Soak the dried squid in cold water until soft and pliable, then cut into thin strips.
- 28 min
Cut pork belly, pressed tofu, celery, scallion, and garlic shoots into matchsticks; slice garlic and chili.
- 34 min
Dry-fry the pork belly over medium heat until the fat renders and the edges crisp, then push aside.
Watch outDry-fry the pork belly until the fat renders out and the edges crisp — that rendered lard becomes the cooking fat that flavors everything after.
- 43 min
Add the squid strips and fry until the edges curl, then the tofu, garlic, and chili until fragrant.
- 51 min
Splash in rice wine and soy sauce (a little sugar and dark soy if you like) and toss to glaze everything.
- 61 min
Throw in the celery, scallion, and garlic shoots, toss for under a minute until just crisp-tender, and serve.
Watch outThrow the celery and garlic shoots in last and toss under a minute — pull them while still crisp and green, before they wilt into the sauce.
