Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (2024)

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Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (1)

by: Bill

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Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (2)

Twice Cooked Pork, or hui guo rou(回鍋肉),is a Sichuan dish of spicy seared pork belly that’s way toofamousto ignoreandtoodeliciousnot to share.If you’ve never tried it, you NEED to make this recipe. It is simply and unequivocally delicious!

Yes, Shanghai Braised pork belly is irresistibleand yes, Cantonese roast pork belly is delicious, but pork belly recipes in Sichuan, China are different and when cooked right, this dish melts in your mouth and gives such a pleasant hot chili bean flavor that you may down two or three servings of rice with it.

In the US, this dish has evolved as demandforauthenticChinese cookinghas grown.I clearly remember the Twice Cooked Porkwe’d make in our take-out restaurant inthe old days: boiledpork, cabbage, five-spicedtofu, green and red bell pepper, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and hot sauce. For a long, long time, I thoughtwe were making “twice cooked pork.”

But as more and more authenticSichuanrestaurants open up,the true twice cooked porkhasrevealeditself. It’s amazingly decadentand addictive.

If youfind yourselfin a restaurant with a lot of Chinese diners and you see this dish on the menu, order it.Most likely,it will be pretty authentic.

We also had the dish often while living in Beijing, and developed this particular recipe based off of some of the best versions we had around the city.Only the best for our readers!

Twice Cooked Pork: Recipe Instructions

Important notes, before we begin:

  1. Don’t forget to make ricein advancebecause you’ll need it.
  2. Just to make this really clear:the pork is sliced AFTER beingboiled.
  3. The right hot bean pastereallymakes this dish, sosee photo below for the right brand.

In a medium pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the whole piece of pork belly and the ginger, and bring the pot to a boil again. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until the pork is tender and cooked through. Remove the pork from the pot and run it under cold running water for about a minute. Set aside.

While the pork iscooling, prepare all the other ingredients.Once you are ready to cook (don’t do this in advance, or the pork will dry out), thinlyslice the pork belly (slices should be about 1/8 inch thick).

Heat your wok over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add 1tablespoon of oil and sear the pork, until you get a lightcaramelization, about 90 seconds. Turn the heat to medium-low and scoop out the pork. Add anothertablespoon of oil to the wok.

Add the spicybroad bean paste to the wok and let it fry in the oil for about 30 seconds to bring out the flavor and color. The color should be red; pay attention to the heat to avoid burning.

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (4)

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (5)

Now add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (6)

Turn the heat to high and add the pork, longhotgreenpeppers, and leeks.

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (7)

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (8)

Stir-fry for a minute. Add the shaoxingwine, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir everything together. Once the leeks and are wilted and the peppers are cooked (while still having a little crunch), it’s ready to serve.

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (9)

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (10)

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (11)

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4.84 from 30 votes

Twice Cooked Pork

Twice Cooked Pork, or hui guo rou (回鍋肉), is a Sichuan dish of spicy seared pork belly. This Chinese classic recipe is way too famous to ignore and too delicious not to share.

by: Bill

Course:Pork

Cuisine:Chinese

Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (12)

serves: 4 servings

Prep: 10 minutes minutes

Cook: 35 minutes minutes

Total: 45 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound pork belly (450g, you HAVE to use pork belly, or it's not twice cooked pork)
  • 2 slices ginger
  • 2 tablespoons oil (divided)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons spicy broad bean paste
  • 2 cloves garlic (sliced)
  • 2 long hot green peppers (seeds removed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces)
  • 1 medium leek (split lengthwise, washed thoroughly, and cut in 2-inch pieces)
  • 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

  • In a medium pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the whole piece of pork belly and the ginger, and bring the pot to a boil again. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until the pork is tender and cooked through. Remove the pork from the pot and run it under cold running water for about a minute. Set aside.

  • While the pork is cooling, prepare all the other ingredients. Once you are ready to cook (don't do this in advance, or the pork will dry out), thinly slice the pork belly (slices should be about 1/8 inch thick).

  • Heat your wok over high heat until just starting to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and sear the pork, until you get a light caramelization, about 90 seconds. Turn the heat to medium-low and scoop out the pork. Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok.

  • Add the spicy broad bean paste to the wok and let it fry in the oil for about 30 seconds to bring out the flavor and color. The color should be red; pay attention to the heat to avoid burning.

  • Now add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Turn the heat to high and add the pork, peppers, and leeks. Stir-fry for a minute. Add the shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir everything together. Once the leeks and are wilted and the peppers are cooked (while still having a little crunch), it's ready to serve.

nutrition facts

Calories: 578kcal (29%) Carbohydrates: 8g (3%) Protein: 12g (24%) Fat: 67g (103%) Saturated Fat: 22g (110%) Cholesterol: 82mg (27%) Sodium: 344mg (14%) Potassium: 250mg (7%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 3g (3%) Vitamin A: 370IU (7%) Vitamin C: 6.2mg (8%) Calcium: 22mg (2%) Iron: 1.2mg (7%)

nutritional info disclaimer

TheWoksofLife.com is written and produced for informational purposes only. While we do our best to provide nutritional information as a general guideline to our readers, we are not certified nutritionists, and the values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. Various online calculators also provide different results, depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.

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@thewoksoflife

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Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (17)

About Bill

Bill is the dad of The Woks of Life family. He grew up in upstate New York, working through high school and college in restaurants with his father, a chef. Rose from modest beginnings as a Burger King sandwich assembler to Holiday Inn busboy and line cook, to cooking at the family's Chinese restaurant, while also learning the finer points of Cantonese cooking from his immigrant parents. Specializes in all things traditional Cantonese and American Chinese takeout.

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Twice Cooked Pork: Chinese Sichuan Recipe - The Woks of Life (2024)

FAQs

What is Sichuan double-cooked pork? ›

Twice-cooked pork is a Sichuan dish of fatty pork leg or belly, skin-on, that gets two very different cooking preparations. The skin is the best part of the dish. In the first stage, the belly is simmered just until it's cooked through. Then you allow it to cool down in the refrigerator so the fat and the meat firm up.

Why is it called twice-cooked pork? ›

These peppers are said to be hot enough to numb the lips and tongue, so you can continue to eat more of them. As the name would indicate, twice-cooked pork is a pork dish that undergoes two unique cooking processes: simmering and then stir-frying.

What is the translation of twice-cooked pork? ›

Twice-cooked pork or double-cooked pork (Chinese: 回鍋肉; pinyin: huíguōròu) (literally "returned to the pan (wok)") is a Chinese dish in Sichuan cuisine.

How many calories are in Chinese double-cooked pork? ›

Chi's Chinese Twice Cooked Pork (1 cup) contains 9g total carbs, 7g net carbs, 16g fat, 33g protein, and 318 calories.

Is twice-cooked pork good? ›

I always favored one dish in particular: twice-cooked pork. Its tender pieces of meat, complex crimson sauce, and inherent savoriness captivated me.

What does Szechuan mean in Chinese food? ›

ˈsēch-ˈwän. or Szechwan. ˈsech-ˌwän. ˈsesh- : of, relating to, or being a style of Chinese cooking that is spicy, oily, and especially peppery.

Why is pork pink in Chinese food? ›

If it's ground pork, it might be as the result of using/adding minced ginger and the resulting interaction with pork tends to make it a slightly pink hue. If it's traditional char siu(BBQ Chinese roasted pork), it's the combination of seasonings and spices (hoisin sauce, honey, five spice powder and red food dye).

What food item literally means twice cooked? ›

Biscuit. A baked, commonly flour-based food product. The Middle French word bescuit is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and coquere, coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means "twice-cooked". This is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven.

What food is named for twice cooked? ›

Twice Cooked Pork, or hui guo rou (回鍋肉), is a Sichuan dish of spicy pork belly. The name 'twice-cooked' comes from the cooking method that requires boiling the fatty pork first and then stir fry in the wok.

Why is pork still pink after cooking? ›

There are numerous factors that affect persistent pinkness; however, most often the culprits are a higher than normal muscle pH and myoglobin predominately in the deoxymyoglobin form. Pork with a pH 6.3 or higher almost always results in pink coloration even at well-done temperature.

What turns pork pink? ›

After cutting, the oxygen in the air attaches to the myoglobin and the pork turns to the bright pink color that we associate with fresh pork. It would be great if the color would just stay the pretty pink color, but the enzymes in the muscle use the oxygen and take it away from the myoglobin.

What is the pork rule in cooking? ›

Cooking pork thoroughly can eliminate the risk of infection. The meat should be cooked to temperatures of 145–160°F (63–71°C) and allowed to rest for at least 3 minutes before eating.

Is Chinese food cooked in pork fat? ›

In the past, most Chinese families has used pork oil when they cooking since most people living in poverty. Now, in some famous Chinese meals, in particular ' The ChongQing noodle', pork oil is an indispensable ingredient in it.

How many calories are in Szechuan pork? ›

Results for "Szechuan Pork"

Other sizes: 1 serving - 280kcal, 100 g - 158kcal, 1 oz - 45kcal, more...

Is extra lean pork healthy? ›

Nutritionally, pork possesses a wide range of essential nutrients like energizing B vitamins, choline for developing babies, and iron for healthy red blood cells. A 3-ounce serving of lean pork is loaded with protein and low in fat. Eating lean pork daily can be a part of a well-balanced, high-nutrient diet.

What is the meaning of Sichuan pork? ›

Literally Shui Zhu Rou Pian means water boiled meat slices, also known as Sichuan Pork in Chili Broth. Beef, pork, or fish are usually used in this dish and the name changes slightly to indicate which meat is used. Niu is beef and yu is fish. The water in the dish keeps the meat moist and tender.

What is Szechuan pork made of? ›

Szechuan Pork: This is a vibrant and flavor-packed dish that combines tender slices of pork with crisp bell peppers and a spicy, savory sauce. It's a simple yet bold meal that's sure to liven up your dinner table, perfect for those who love a little heat in their food.

What does Sichuan style taste like? ›

Szechuan pepper has an intensely fragrant, citrus-like flavour and produces a "tingly-numbing" (Chinese: 麻) sensation in the mouth. Also common are garlic, chili, ginger, star anise and other spicy herbs, plants and spices.

What is double cooked meat? ›

Double-cooked Meat (回锅肉) is the No. 1 dish in Sichuan Cuisine because of its popularity. The dish literally cooked the meat twice with simmering in the boiling water before stir frying.

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