Twice-Cooked Pork — A Home-Style Dish Top-Tier Where One Plate Pairs with Two Bowls of Rice
A glistening plate of sliced pork tossed with garlic sprouts and doubanjiang. As it cooks, the edges of the meat curl into a distinctive "lamp-cup" shape, yet the flavor unfolds in wonderful layers: first a crisp, caramelized crust gives way to rich, melting fattiness that dissolves on the palate. Salty, umami, sweet, spicy, and aromatic—each wave rolls in after the last. The mellow depth of doubanjiang and the smooth sweetness of sweet bean paste are absorbed into and carried by the marbled pork, achieving a deep, full-bodied balance. The dish's appeal begins with the striking contrast between sight and taste, and culminates in a single bite that delivers two elevations of pork flavor.
Ingredients
Pork belly
500 g
Garlic sprouts
2-3 stalks
Thai chili peppers
2
Ginger
3 slices
Sichuan peppercorns
10-15 pieces
Cooking wine
1 tbsp
Sugar
1 tsp
Sweet bean sauce
1 tbsp
Pixian doubanjiang (broad bean chili paste)
2 tbsp
Instructions
1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients.
2
Step 2
Clean the garlic sprouts. Cut the white parts and leaves into inch-long segments. Slice the ginger and set aside.
3
Step 3
Rinse the skin-on pork belly. Place it in a pot of cold water along with the ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, and 1 tbsp of cooking wine.
4
Step 4
Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam. Simmer on low for 20–25 minutes until a chopstick pierces through easily with no blood (do not overcook!). Remove and let cool.
5
Step 5
Slice the cooled pork belly into thin pieces about the thickness of a 1-yuan coin (slicing while cool keeps it from crumbling).
6
Step 6
Without adding oil, place the sliced pork in a wok over medium-low heat and slowly render out the fat until the slices curl up into small bowl shapes ("lamp-cup" curls).
7
Step 7
Push the meat slices to the side of the wok. Add 2 tbsp of Pixian doubanjiang and stir-fry until the red oil comes out. Add 1 tbsp of sweet bean sauce and stir until fragrant, then add a small pinch of sugar to balance the saltiness.
8
Step 8
First add the white parts of the garlic sprouts and stir-fry with the meat for a few turns.
9
Step 9
Then add the garlic leaves and Thai chilies.
10
Step 10
Quickly toss everything together until just cooked and remove from heat.
11
Step 11
Glossy red color, savory with a mild kick, rich sauce aroma with a hint of sweetness. The fat renders out, leaving the pork rich but not greasy, dry and fragrant over rice—a true rice killer.
