Twice-Cooked Pork (Hui Guo Rou)
A Sichuan classic of pork belly simmered, sliced and stir-fried with leeks, fermented black beans and spicy broad bean paste. Rich, aromatic and deeply savory. The name describes the method exactly: the pork is boiled first and then returned to the wok, and it is that first simmer that lets you slice it paper-thin and still get crisp, curled edges. It is also the dish Sichuan cooks use to size up a kitchen.
Prep time15 min
Cook time25 min
Total time40 min
Servings4 servings
DifficultyMedium
Ingredients
- 300 g pork belly, skin on
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 leeks (or Chinese leek), cut into sections
- 1 1/2 tbsp spicy broad bean paste (doubanjiang)
- 1 tsp fermented black beans, rinsed
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- 1Put the pork belly in a pan and add cold water to cover, along with the ginger and the Shaoxing wine. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes, until a chopstick pushed into the meat meets only slight resistance.
- 2Lift the pork out and let it cool completely — an hour on a plate at room temperature, or 20 minutes in the fridge. Chilled meat slices far more cleanly than warm meat.
- 3Slice it as thinly as you can, aiming for 2-3mm, and cut across the grain so the slices hold together once they hit the wok.
- 4Heat a little oil in a wok over medium-high heat and stir-fry the slices for 2-3 minutes, until they curl into little scoops and the edges turn golden.
- 5Push the pork to one side and tilt the wok so the oil pools. Add the doubanjiang and fermented black beans straight into that oil and fry for 30 seconds, until it turns red and smells toasted rather than raw.
- 6Add the sugar and soy sauce and toss everything together so the pork takes on the red oil.
- 7Add the leek sections and stir-fry for about 1 minute, until just wilted but still bright green with a little snap left in them.
- 8Serve hot with rice, spooning some of the red oil from the wok over the top.
Tips
- Chilling the pork before slicing makes thin, even slices much easier.
- Don't overcook the leeks — they should stay bright and lightly crisp.
- Doubanjiang is salty; taste before adding extra soy sauce.
- Fry the doubanjiang in the oil rather than stirring it into a wet pan. Those 30 seconds in hot fat are what turn the oil red and give the dish its backbone.
- If the pork belly is very fatty, pour off all but a tablespoon of the rendered fat before the aromatics go in, otherwise the finished plate tastes heavy.
