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    Home » Recipes » Featured

    Twice Cooked Pork--Szechuan Pork Stir Fry

    December 27, 2015 by Elaine 79 Comments | Jump to Recipe

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    Twice cooked pork(回锅肉) or Double cooked pork belly (Huiguorou in Chinese language ) is one of the most famous dishes of szechuan pork recipes. There is an interesting saying that if you do not eat twice cooked pork, then you have never been to Sichuan. For me, it is the top popular dish in my kitchen, along with my favorite Mapo tofu. 

    twice cooked pork belly-HuiGuoRou

    The English name is literally translated  from Chinese name 回锅肉. And the Chinese name comes from its cooking process: “回”means returning. Twice-cooked pork means that the pork should be cooked twice. Firstly pork is boiled in water until nearly cooked, then use Doubanjiang(also known as broad bean paste), fermented black soy beans (Douchi), ginger, garlic and side ingredients to stir-fry for flavoring.  How to identify when the pork is nearly cooked? Here is my tip: use one chopstick to poke the pork from one side to another side to see whether the chopstick meets tough resistance. If there is only small resistance but you can pork the chopstick from one side to another side, then stop boiling and enter the next process. Usually, the boiling process cost 30 minutes for me.

    There are several varieties of twice cooked pork. Most of the difference lies in the side ingredients. Some use cabbage or potatoes. But the most popular one in China is garlic sprouts (蒜(suàn)苗(miáo). Since dish color is commonly be considered as one of the five factors in Chinese cooking philosophy, red peppers are always used together, which contributes a beautifully appearance to improve your appetizer.

    Ok, that's a picture of garlic sprouts. If you cannot get some, you can use green onion or fresh peppers as substitutes.  By the way, it is quite easy to grown your own garlic sprouts at home--check here.

    garlic sprouts

    There are two popular eating methods of twice cooked pork, one is to match with steamed rice and the other one is to insert the pork into Guo Kui(锅盔) which is a type of Baked Chinese bread.

    In Szechuan area of China, we do not use soy sauce, but sweet bean paste (甜面酱) for twice cooked pork. But sweet bean paste is quite hard to find outside China. Soy sauce twice cooked pork belly is good enough for my families. Besides, the thickness of the slices will influence the taste slightly. Yes, I mean it. If you cut the pork slices into thicker one around 0.3-0.4 cm, the pork slices will be slightly softer. While if your pork slice is 0.1cm to 0.2cm, they may slightly chewer. Picture below is a thicker version loved by me daughter and the video shows a thinner version loved by my husband.

    twice cooked pork belly-HuiGuoRou

    Twice Cooked Pork

    Twice Cooked Pork (Double Cooked Pork) from China Sichuan Cuisine.
    5 from 9 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine
    Keyword: pork, twice cooked
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 833kcal
    Author: Elaine

    Ingredients

    • 300 g pork belly
    • 1 green onion
    • 4-5 Sichuan peppercorn , optional
    • 1 small bunch garlic sprout , 3-4 ones, end removed and cut into pieces
    • 2 long red chili peppers
    • 1 teaspoon cooking oil
    • 1 inch scallion stalk , cut into small pieces
    • ½ thumb ginger , sliced
    • 2 garlic cloves , sliced
    • 1 tablespoon broad bean paste: doubanjiang
    • 2 teaspoon dou-chi: fermented black beans
    • 1 teaspoons light soy sauce

    Instructions

    • Place pork belly in a large pot with enough cold water to cover. Add 1 green onion and 4-5 Sichuan peppercorn seeds. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. If you are cooking a larger amount, cut the pork belly into sections around 15 cm long (keeping note 1) Transfer out and set aside to cool down.
    • Smash the head of garlic sprouts and then cut the head part and leaves into 1.5 inch sections. Remove the seeds of red pepper and cut into pieces too.
    • Heat up around 1 teaspoon of oil in wok (not too much, otherwise the dish might be over greasy), fry the pork belly for around 1-2 minutes (Note 2)until they begin to loose oil and slightly brown.
    • Move the pork slices out and leave oil only, fry ginger, garlic and scallion until aroma. Place doubanjiang and dou-chi, fry for another half minute. Return pork slices and give a big stir fry to combine well.
    • Add red pepper, fry for another half minutes. Lastly, place garlic spouts and light soy sauce. Combine well and transfer out immediately.
    • Serve with steamed rice.

    Video

    Notes

    You can boil a larger amount for example 600g once and keep the left half for another stir frying in following 2 days. Cool down completely and keep in refrigerator, covered with plastic wrapper.
    If the pork belly is fatty, fry for a longer time can reduce the oil it contained. However if the pork belly is with lots of lean meat, do not over-fry it. Otherwise, the slices will dry out.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 833kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 81g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 336mg | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 19.3mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.9mg
    twice cooked pork belly-HuiGuoRou
    twice cooked pork belly-HuiGuoRou
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Matthew

      January 23, 2020 at 6:20 am

      Hi Elaine, I just made twice cooked pork following another recipe and wonder if I could get your advice. The pork (i think the skin part) was simply too tough! I thought I might have sliced them too thin, but maybe based on your write up here I should try to cut them thicker? Or stir fry for less time? I'll be sure to give your recipe a try soon.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        January 28, 2020 at 2:48 pm

        Matthew,
        If the skin is too tough, you need to cook the pork for a longer time in boiling water. Possibly this is caused by the old pig.

        Reply
        • Matthew

          January 29, 2020 at 3:03 am

          That is such a helpful tip, Elaine! Thank you *very* much.

          Reply
          • Elaine

            January 29, 2020 at 8:48 pm

            My pleasure!

            Reply
    2. Kitchengeeky

      March 21, 2020 at 3:13 am

      I have a fascination with Chinese recipes. I had been in china once in Guangzhou. I liked their food very much. I am glad you share this recipe with us. I will definitely try this.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        March 21, 2020 at 7:51 pm

        Sure. Happy cooking!

        Reply
    3. Lucas

      December 08, 2020 at 11:45 pm

      Hi Elaine, if I want to use 甜面酱 instead of soy sauce, how much should I use?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        December 15, 2020 at 8:50 pm

        Lucas,
        If you plan to use 甜面酱, stir 1/2 tablespoon of the sauce with 1 tablespoon of water. It is very salty and thus be careful with the amount.

        Reply
    4. Henning

      February 03, 2021 at 8:44 am

      Dear Elaine, you say that in Sichuan you use 甜面酱, but you omitted it in this recipe because it's not so easily available. You are from Sichuan, so I have no reason not to trust you. But I heard that some experts disagree about this ingredient, saying that the original Sichuan version is without the sweetish paste - according to them the latter rather belongs to the variant from North China. Of course, since this fantastic dish has become popular all over China, and Sichuan and 东北 styles have intermingled a bit, it might be difficult to say which version is "authentic". I live in one of the major towns of Germany, where many Chinese are doing business, so we have plenty of Chinese groceries, I can get the tianmianjiang without problems, but I'm curious about your opinion on this question.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        March 03, 2021 at 9:02 am

        Henning,
        Restaurant chef loves to use Tianmianjiang for double cooked pork belly for a thicker and stronger flavor, especially the traditional branch. However, housewives seldom use Tianmianjiang in daily cooking because it is harder to control and need more skills. So that's the reason I omit Tianmianjiang and choice soy sauce.
        No authentic dishes in Sichuan because it is a humble home cooking friendly cuisine.

        Reply
    5. Graeme

      February 03, 2021 at 10:44 am

      Like the recipes will give them a go

      Reply
      • Elaine

        February 17, 2021 at 11:40 am

        Happy cooking, Graeme!

        Reply
    6. MashKitchen

      March 23, 2021 at 2:17 pm

      Hy Elaine, When I searching to try some new dishes then I found your post. It looks delicious. I will definitely try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        March 23, 2021 at 8:51 pm

        Thank you. Happy cooking.

        Reply
    7. mavee125

      November 10, 2021 at 11:43 am

      5 stars
      This Twice Cooked Pork is delicious! I used Coconut Secret Gochujang Soy-Free Korean Fermented Chili Paste that I bought from Karman Foods as alternative to doubanjiang. It's perfect! Best paired with Vitasoy Lychee Flavor Vita Juice Drink.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        November 11, 2021 at 7:48 pm

        Thanks for your lovely information. Now I know it is ok to use Gochujang for personal twice cooked pork belly.

        Reply
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