Twice Cooked Pork

Ian Benites

A delicious Sichuanese stir-fry made with thinly sliced pork belly and green garlic.

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 5

Course Main Course

Servings 2 people

1-2 Tbsp neutral-flavored cooking oil (canola, vegetable, corn....etc)
Reserved simmered pork belly
175 grams green garlic about 4-5 stalks - can be substituted with leek, scallion, or sliced onion
10 grams sliced red thai bird chili about 6 chilies - can substitute with another hot pepper)`
25 grams ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices
15 grams sliced garlic 4-5 cloves
2 tsp Sichuan chili bean paste (doubanjiang)
1/2 Tbsp Fermented black beans (douchi), roughly chopped
1/2 Tbsp Sweet wheat paste (tianmianjiang) - can be omitted or substituted with hoisin sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
pinch msg 1/4 tsp
pinch sugar 1/4 tsp

Add the pork belly, water, ginger, scallion and shaoxing wine to a pot and bring to a low boil. Keep the pork belly at an active simmer for 45 minutes. You are not looking to get the pork belly tender, just cooking it through and slightly tenderizing the skin.
Remove the pork belly from the pot and immediately place it in a bowl with cool water. After 5 minutes in the cool water, add some ice to speed up the cooling process. Allow the pork to cool in the ice bath for at least 15 minutes before removing from the ice bath. Pork belly can be prepared like this up to 3 days in advance and held in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to slice.

Cut the pork belly into 1/8th inch slices. set aside.
Remove stem ends of green garlic. Use the side of the knife to "whack" and lightly crush the white parts of the green garlic. Cut the green garlic whites diagonally into roughly 1.5 inch sections. Set aside.
Cut the green garlic tops in the same fashion. Set aside.
Combine sweet wheat paste, dark soy, light soy, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, and msg in a small container and stir to dissolve. Set this "sauce" aside
Make sure you have all of the ingredients cut and ready before cooking the stir fry.

Place a wok or large saute pan over high heat (medium heat if using a high output wok burner). Add the cooking oil.
When the oil starts to lightly smoke, add the pork belly to the pan and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
When the pork belly has started to lightly brown, add the fermented black beans and the chili bean paste.
Stir fry over high heat for 20-30 seconds. The pork will start to take on a pleasant red color.
Add sliced garlic, ginger and chilies and stir fry over high heat for about 20 seconds
Add the "sauce" that you mixed earlier and stir fry for about 20 more seconds over high heat
If the heat isn't already all the way up, turn the heat up and add the green garlic.
Stir fry over the highest heat possible for about 15 to 20 seconds and then turn off the heat. The goal is to have the green garlic be wilted but not totally soft and overcooked.
Serve the twice-cooked pork with warm steamed rice