Twice-Cooked Pork

Ingredients

• 1 pound of pork belly
• 5 stalks of garlic chives
• Scallion, ginger, garlic cloves
• 5-6 Sichuan peppercorns, 3 small chili peppers, 2 small spoons of fermented bean paste
• 10 grams of cooking wine (adjust to taste, just a moderate amount)
• 3 small spoons of light soy sauce
• 1 small spoon of dark soy sauce
• Salt, oil

Preparation

Step 1

Pork belly, remove the skin, rinse off the blood, then pat dry with kitchen paper:

The pork skin can be removed at the time of purchase. The skin can be used to render lard, which is very fragrant.

Step 2

Cut 5 stalks of garlic chives diagonally into segments. But you’re a free person—cut them however you like. Even if you chop them into flowers, no 无形的手 will jump out to punish you… it just won’t look as nice:

Step 3

Prepare 3 slices of ginger, cut into diamond shapes; 5-6 Sichuan peppercorns; cut the scallion into 4 segments, each about 3-4 cm long, and set aside:

Step 4

Cut the small chili peppers into segments, no need to remove the seeds; prepare some ginger and cut into strips; crush the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife and chop finely; scoop out 2 spoons of fermented bean paste and set aside:

At this point, the preparation is complete:

Processing the Ingredients

Step 1

Clean the wok, heat it to evaporate any remaining water. Once hot, add a moderate amount of oil to coat the wok. When the oil is hot, hold the lean side of the pork belly and rub the fatty side against the wok until it turns golden brown:

Note: Before rubbing, ensure safety measures are in place—dry the pork belly thoroughly, or the oil will splatter onto your hands.
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After rubbing, place the pork belly in cold water, turn off the heat, and discard the water.

Step 2

Clean the wok again, turn on the heat, and place the wok back on the stove. Add the rubbed pork belly to the wok, along with enough water to just cover it. Then add the scallion segments, ginger slices, and Sichuan peppercorns, and pour in a moderate amount of cooking wine:

Step 3

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes:

Some scum may form on the surface—just ignore it, as we’re not drinking the broth anyway.

Just noticed my gas stove flame is yellow—not sure why. I’ll adjust it later:

Hey Siri, set a timer for 30 minutes.

Cover and simmer:

After simmering, discard the water in the wok, clean the wok, and let the pork belly cool in cold water. Once cooled, pat it dry with kitchen paper.

Step 4

Slice the pork belly as thinly as possible. My knife isn’t very sharp, so the slices are thicker. But don’t slice it too thin, or it may break apart while stir-frying:

Stir-Frying

Turn the heat to high and heat the wok. Add a little oil—not too much, as the fatty pork will release a lot of oil:

Add the fermented bean paste for color and stir-fry briefly. Then add the ginger strips, garlic cloves, and small chili peppers, and stir-fry a bit longer:

Add the light and dark soy sauce, stir-fry briefly, then drizzle a moderate amount of vinegar around the edges of the wok. Add the garlic chives and stir-fry for another minute before serving:

Ready to eat:

Notes

• When stir-frying the pork, before adding the fermented bean paste, a lot of oil will render out. You can pour it into a small bowl for later use in cooking. However, don’t stir-fry for too long just because there’s a lot of oil, or the pork will become tough and less tasty.
• This time, I used 1.5 pounds of pork belly while keeping the other ingredients as described above. In the end, it felt like there was too much meat and not enough garlic chives, so it’s better to stick with 1 pound of pork belly.

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