A sweet, savory, and crispy scallion and pork belly stir-fry is my recent favorite when I don’t want to cook hot pork belly.
You may find that lots of my pork belly recipes call for chili peppers. Since pork belly contains more fat than other cuts, I always use chili pepper and a large amount of aromatics to balance the flavor.
However, the scallion and pork belly combination is a surprise for me. Rich, succulent pork belly with its perfect balance of meat and fat, paired with the sharp, aromatic bite of fresh scallions. It is full of aroma and sweetness. Compared to the classic, popular Mongolian beef, no marinating is needed.
I will use a combination of Chinese large scallions. Chinese large scallion (Welsh Onions, 大葱, Dà cōng) is a special variety popular in Northern Chinese cuisine. I bet most of you have tried Mongolian beef. It has a strong, sharp flavor and a relatively firm texture. If you can’t find this type, use a leek or a more common scallion, but only the white part as a replacement.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb (200g) pork belly, cut into thin slices (about 1/8 inch thick)
- 1 Chinese scallion, cut into 2-inch segments. Or you can also use 6-7 scallions (white part only) as a replacement
- 5 scallions, white part only
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 tbsp. Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/8 tsp. white pepper
How to prepare Chinese Large Sacallion
Lay the scallion flat on your cutting board. Using the flat side of your knife blade, gently smash/press down. This helps break down the layers slightly. After that, cut the scallion diagonally into segments about 2 inches long. So we can get more surface area while still maintaining the crunch of the scallion, since we don’t need to cut it into super-mini pieces.
Step by step
Thinly slice your pork belly; either keep the skin on or remove it. I love to maintain the skins, although they can be a little bit hard to chew after cooking. If you are not good at this, freeze your pork belly for 30 minutes, then cut it into thin slices like cucumbers.
We don’t need to marinate the pork belly. The next step is to prepare the aromatics —ginger, garlic, and scallions.
Sear the pork belly: add a tiny amount of oil to the wok and cook until well seared. This may take some time, but it is the key step for a well-flavored scallion and pork belly stir-fry. I will recommend frying them until deep-golden brown.
If it realse too much oil, you can scoop some out and save it for vegetable stir fry.
Move the pork belly to the sides of the wok, add garlic and ginger, and fry until aromatic.
Place 2/3 of the large scallion sections in, then add light soy sauce, salt, and sugar. Quickly stir-fry for around 10 seconds until the large scallions are just cooked.
Then add the remaining 1/3. Mix for another 5 seconds. Transfer out and serve hot.
Scallion and Pork Belly Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb 200g pork belly, cut into thin slices (about 1/8 inch thick)
- 1 Chinese scallion cut into 2-inch segments
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger sliced
- 1 tbsp. Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
Instructions
- Thinly slice your pork belly; either keep the skins or remove them.
- Prepare the aromatics —ginger, garlic, and scallions. Lay the scallion flat on your cutting board. Using the flat side of your knife blade, gently smash/press down. This helps break down the layers slightly. After that, cut the scallion diagonally into segments about 2 inches long.
- Sear the pork belly: add a tiny amount of oil to the wok and cook until well seared. This may take some time, but it is the key step for a well-flavored scallion and pork belly stir-fry. I will recommend frying them until deep-golden brown.
- Move the pork belly to the sides of the wok, add garlic and ginger, and fry until aromatic.
- Place 2/3 of the large scallion sections in, then add light soy sauce, salt, and sugar. Quickly stir-fry for around 10 seconds until the large scallions are just cooked.
- Then add the remaining 1/3. Mix for another 5 seconds. Transfer out and serve hot.
