Another very classic Szechuan dish is twice-cooked pork — first cook in mid-low water for 20-30min, second-cook in pan for stir fry. Traditional twice-cooked pork is cooked with garlic sprouts 蒜苗, but if unable to find this, bell pepper is usually used instead. Sweetness of bell peppers compensate the spicy, crispy pork belly very well!
QUICK TAKEAWAYS
- cook pork belly in mid-low heat for 20-30mins, preventing over-cooked
- stir fry pork belly in low heat on pan to get the oil out, need to be very patient at this step; if cook over high heat, pork belly burns easily and the oil does not get out, resulting in very oily, greasy twice-cooked pork
- cook bean paste in oil till red oil releases will get the taste out 炒紅油
RECIPE
- pork belly
- ginger slices
- scallion chunks
- Szechuan peppercorns
- rice wine
- garlic slices
- spicy bean paste 郫縣豆瓣醬
- bell pepper
Step 1: cook pork belly in cold water with ginger slices, scallions, rice wine and Szechuan peppercorns; bring to boil, remove floating foams, turn heat to med-low and cook for 20-30mins or till can pierce through; let cool
Step 2: wait till pork belly completely cools down and slice into thin (1-3mm) slices; it’s easier to slice when cold
Step 3: over low heat, stir fry pork belly slices till oil comes out; this might take a while but do NOT use high heat. Remove from heat when fry till golden and pork belly slices curl up
Step 4: stir fry garlic slices, ginger slices in hot oil over med-low heat, add spicy bean paste and fry till red oil release from paste
Step 5: add pork belly slices and belly pepper; stir fry till satisfied with bell pepper texture
- if want softer bell peppers which take longer time, put pork belly first then bell pepper
READY TO SERVE!
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