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.
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.
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.
- 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
- 1/2 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Add red pepper, fry for another half minutes. Lastly, place garlic spouts and light soy sauce. Combine well and transfer out immediately.
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Serve with steamed rice.
Recipe Video
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.
I love to cook with Doubanjiang and double cooked pork is fantastic!
Thanks Jonna, I love Doubanjiang too….
The colors are so beautiful. I would love to have it with steamed rice. Just perfect!
Joel, that’s just my choice too. Twice cooked pork and steamed rice.
Looks yummy I will try to cook tomorrow,Thanks for the recipe it helps a lot for me
Very nice pictures! I love double cooked pork. But it’s not leeks that is scallions.
In our Szechuan places they definitely use leeks and not scallions, though.
Hi Alex,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I am sorry for the misunderstanding. The leek I mentioned in the recipe actually is garlic sprout which is quite popular and common side ingredients in Szechuan and Hunan province. It is not scallions. But the garlic sprout can be replaced by leek.
My pork belly is simmering now, and all of my mis en place is in place. I cannot wait to have this for dinner tonight! Xiexie!
Hi Angie,
Thanks for stopping by and dropping me this note! Enjoy your savory pork belly!
Eliane,
This was so simple and so delicious. It came out just like the dish from my favorite Szechuan restaurant in Atlanta. I knew after making your eggplant salad that your recipes are excellent. This confirms it.
I can’t wait to call up my mom and tell her how to make this. (Do you blog your recipes in Chinese? She’s more comfortable with Chinese than English.) I told her about the eggplant salad. She hasn’t made it yet because she doesn’t have eggplant in the house, but she was so impressed by your recipe and my recommendation, she’s already passed the recipe to my uncle!
By the way, your recipe lists salt, but it’s not in your directions. I added a very small amount of salt when I was frying the pork slices to help flavor and crisp them up before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
Oops! I meant to write, “Elaine”. Sorry!
One of my all time favourite pork dishes. I’d love to have your opinion of the version I usually make.
https://labelledamesanssouci.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/fuchsia-dunlops-twice-cooked-pork/
Your version looks great, Carole. If possible, cut thiner slices next time so the oil will come out easily and make the pork less oily.
I’ll stick with your little girl and prefer the ticker cut version.
Happy New Year – and lucky you. You can celebrate New year twice. Good idea 🙂
Is the ‘sweet bean paste’ used for Twice Cooked Pork the same as your ‘Sweet Red Bean Paste’?
Today I bought a jar of ‘Sweet Bean Sauce’, the exact one in link below.
https://shop.waiyeehong.com/food-ingredients/sauces-oils/other-sauces/sweet-bean-sauce-1
Is the ‘sweet bean sauce’ the same as the ‘sweet bean paste’ used for Twice Cooked Pork?
Yes Steven, that’s our sweet bean sauce. We call it tianmianjiang.
Thank you Elaine
In the above recipe, do I replace 1 to 2 teaspoons light soy sauce with 1 to 2 teaspoons sweet bean sauce? or do you normally use a different quantity of sweet bean sauce?
Also, is the sweet bean sauce added at the end, or at the same time as doubanjiang?
Sorry for all the questions, I have actually already attempted your Twice Cooked Pork, and it was a big success, everyone loved it, but instead of garlic sprout I threw in some Chinese Chives at the end.
Can I suggest you add a word to the recipe, in the UK ‘peppers’ and ‘chilli peppers’ are 2 different things, when I saw ‘long red peppers’ in the recipe I bought the following
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=251298216
Those are about 25cm long and not hot at all.
I was surprised the ‘twice cooked pork’ I cooked wasn’t more spicy, so I had a look at the video, only then I realised you were referring to long red chilli peppers.
Thanks Steven for the kind suggestion. If you plan to use sweet bean sauce instead of light soy sauce, I recommend slightly reducing the quantity as sweet bean sauce is much salty.
I have to say, I’ve now cooked this meal 6 times, it’s amazing and so simple to make, it’s quickly becoming my ‘go to meal’ when I don’t know what to cook.
To others, if you’re thinking of trying this meal, get to an Asian supermatket and you’ll find everything you need, and once you have it all, this is such an easy meal to make, ad it’s difficult to see how it can go wrong, the taste is amazing, and almost identical to the same dish I’ve had a few times at a good Chinese restaurant (the kind frequented by mostly Chinese people, it’s sometimes called ‘double cooked pork’), the only minor difference is the restaurant version has a lot more chili peppers in it, to many for most I imagine, but not those who love Sichuan cooking.
I’ve not used Garlic sprouts yet, and add either Chinese Chives or the green bits from a bunch of spring onions (Scallions).
Last week I cooked a shoulder of lamb, the next day I wondered what to do with the left over lamb…..So I had ‘Twice Cooked Lamb’, and it worked, not as good as belly pork, but a really nice meal, I cut the lamb into pieces the same size as the pork slices, then microwaved it, and added it after the dou-chi.
To everyone thinking of trying this meal, do it, you wont regret it.
Thanks for the inspiration Steven. Twice cooked lamb is a wonderful idea. This twice cooked pork is one of the most loved dishes by common house wives. We call dishes like this as home style dishes. They are all no way to go wrong dishes.
Yum, and yay, today will be my first time cooking pork belly, thanks for the recipe ;)) deff going to be following your blog ;))
Glad you like it Kny. Happy cooking.
This recipe is very good. We followed it 100% and it tasted even better than most of the restaurants near where we live (Eastwood, Sydney, Australia). Thanks for documenting it.
Thanks,Bach. I’m so glad you make it successfully with my recipe and you love it.
I find this is very often the case with recipes like this. I like to believe it’s because when you make something, you make it with love… 🙂 The restaurants just have to make the food very fast and don’t have the time to put the love into it.
Made with love! That’a a good point.
you say that Sweet Bean Paste is not available (or hard to get) outside of China but here in Holland we have very good asian supermarkets and it is in fact good available. I would suggest you make your recipes as authentic as possible since most ingredients are in fact available outside of China
It is really great news Jan. I will make the recipes as authentic as possible and list the substitution as another option. Happy cooking!
In the USA Pacific NW (near Seattle) it is also available in local markets. It is also
available via amazon.com- look for “sweet bean paste” and make sure you get one
with the icons that match and/or “tian mian jiang”. Shinho makes the one that I get locally
and it is also listed on amazon. Quite good!
p.s.- amazon also sells a very, very, very good Pixian doubanjaing (China Time Honored brand).
Look for “broad bean paste”- in small letters what you want is “china time honored brand”
Pi Xian Broad Bean Paste. Same stuff I get locally and it is awesome. Both are made in Xinhua and
are quite, quite good.
You’re so talented! Wonderful dish!
Thanks Chris, I’m very happy that you love it!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I substituted country style spare ribs and Jalapeno pepper, but had the other ingredients. I had fresh garlic sprouts from the garden. Never ate them like that, but they are very similar to leeks. It turned out very good. The pork was a little dry, so next time if using the same cut, I might slice a little thicker.
I love drier slices Matt. They are more chewable and aromatic. But it is ok to cut the slices a little bit thicker to make they softer. Or you can shorten the frying process in step 3.
My daughter does not like this too. She does not want to brother chewing the pork slices. Children are really hard to please.
Many people will not try this awesome recipe because garlic sprouts are nearly impossible to find. I even have a large asian market where I live in Tucson, AZ and they never have them. Please do not let this discourage you as this recipe is terrific and the leftovers are even better.. As a substitute for garlic sprouts, simply double the amount of sliced garlic and add a small bunch of green onion tops (cut into pieces). Another thing, the pork belly should be sliced thin (like bacon) for this dish. Partially freeze your pork belly to make slicing easier. Simmer (do not boil) the sliced pork belly for thirty minutes, then drain). This recipe is very easy to make if you have the ingredients. It is absolutely my favorite asian dish. Try it!
Thanks Don for your helpful information. I never know that garlic sprouts are so hard to find outside China. Using green onion to replace garlic sprouts is a brilliant idea or you can use long fresh peppers. I will add this as a supplementary information to help other readers.
Thanks again for your wonderful comment.
In Sichuan restaurants in the USA leeks are typically used in place of green garlic.
The dish looks great! Can you suggest a way to prepare with pork shoulder vs pork belly if possible? I have a pork shoulder I would like to use up.
Thank you in advance.
chris
Hi Chris,
If you get pork shoulder meat, you can try this shredded pork stir fry with green peppers.
2nd recipe i tried from China Sichuan Food and it’s once again delicious! Some food websites are hit or miss but China Sichuan Food has not failed me yet! I did substitute some ingredients as they are unavailable but i was still happy with the outcome. First ingredient i changed was garlic sprouts, i don’t think we have it here so i just added scallions and chives instead of the sprouts. The red chilis i used are the red hot ones, but on your photos the chilis looked like red bell peppers so i might use that next time. But even with the changes the dish was still amazing. Thanks Elaine!
Made this last night for my family with Yuxiang qiezi and vegetarian Mapo tofu! All recipes went very well but this huiguo rou was definitely the favourite!! I was slightly worried about cooking with garlic sprouts as I had never cooked a with them before but it added perfectly to the dish. Thank you very much 🙂
You are the most welcome, Toby. I can image how delicious your huiguo rou is. Happy cooking and wish you get more delicious Chinese dishes in your kitchen.
Looks delicious! What a pretty color they are! I love stir fry dishes so I could go for it right now.
Thanks. Hope you love it.
This is so yummy. Looks so amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you!
This is an awesome recipe. Love it!
Elaine your one of my favorite cooks!
I’ve already made so many recipes from your site.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks Frederikus!
Looks great! Just got the pan simmering away now. Hope it works, I have everything except the black beans. I also threw some star anise, ginger, cloves and bay leaves in the water – seemed like a good idea. If it’s a disaster I only have myself to blame..,
Are there any recommendations as to what type of chili works best with this recipe? I had a version of this at a restaurant when I was on vacation and now I want to do my best to be able to make it at home and properly.
Colt,
There are so many types of pepper in China. I may use several types in turns. You can use Hybrid Chinese Pepper or shishito for a milder version.
It is the second time that I prepare this fabulous recipe, and also made your Mapo Doufu countless times! Fortunately, Asian shops became quite popular in Italy over the last years, so it is relatively easy to find all the ingredients. Curiously, no chinese restaurant in Rome does Hui Guo Rou, unless I decide to visit downtown’s restaurants?
Never mind…Thanks to you, Elaine, I can make this to perfection every time and I can bet it will always better than any restaurant! Thank you again from a Szechuan food lover!!!
Thank you Max. It is really good news about the easy to find Chinese ingredients. We are very lucky to live in such an ear. I can find Italy ingredients easily in China too.
Hui Guo Rou actually is our favorite Sichuan dish for home cooking and I am so glad to know you love it too. Happy cooking and enjoy!
Hi Elaine,
Just letting you know you might consider publishing a version of this with the tianmianjiang – I live in Minnesota, about 40 minutes from our capital and our local Chinese grocer carries it! I have it in my cupboard at all times. I think Amazon also makes this an easy ingredient to access, as well.