Hui Guo Rou (回锅肉 — Twice-Cooked Pork)

Hui Guo Rou — literally 'returned to the wok pork' — is one of the definitive dishes of Sichuan home cooking. A slab of pork belly is first poached in water with aromatics until just cooked through, then sliced and stir-fried in a screaming hot wok with doubanjiang (fermented broad bean and chilli paste), sweet bean paste, and garlic shoots or leeks. The pork slices curl at the edges from the heat, developing crispy, caramelised tips while the fat renders to a silky translucence. The name comes from this two-stage cooking method: the first cooking in water, and the second — the return — to the wok. It is eaten with steamed rice and is considered the litmus test of a Sichuan cook.

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 500 g (1.1 lb) skin-on pork belly, in one piece
• 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
• 2 spring onions, knotted
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

Stir-fry:

• 2 tbsp lard or neutral oil
• 2 tbsp doubanjiang (Pixian fermented broad bean paste), roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp sweet bean paste (tianmianjiang)
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 200 g (7 oz) garlic shoots (suancai miao) or leeks, cut into 4 cm (1.5-inch) lengths
• 3 dried Sichuan red chillies
• 1 tsp fermented black beans (optional)

Instructions

1. Place pork belly in a pot with ginger, knotted spring onions, Shaoxing wine, and enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes until a skewer passes through with slight resistance. The pork should be cooked but not falling apart.
2. Remove pork and plunge into cold water for 10 minutes — this firms the fat and makes slicing easier. Slice into 3 mm (⅛-inch) thick pieces.
3. Heat a wok over the highest possible heat until smoking. Add lard. Add pork slices in a single layer and stir-fry 2–3 minutes, pressing down, until the fat turns translucent and the edges begin to curl and char lightly.
4. Push pork to the side. Add doubanjiang to the centre of the wok and fry in the residual fat for 1 minute until the oil turns deep red and fragrant.
5. Add sweet bean paste, dried chillies, and fermented black beans. Stir everything together.
6. Add garlic shoots or leeks and stir-fry vigorously for 2 minutes until just tender-crisp.
7. Add dark soy sauce and sugar. Toss everything together, taste for salt, and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Cook's Notes: Pixian doubanjiang — aged fermented broad bean paste from Pixian county — is non-negotiable for authentic flavour and is available online or at Chinese grocery stores. The wok must be extremely hot; a lukewarm wok produces steamed rather than stir-fried pork.