Ingredients for Garlic Sprout Twice-Cooked Pork:
– A piece of pork belly with skin
– A bunch of garlic sprouts
– A small amount of peanut oil
– A half-spoon of Quancheng Pixian bean paste
– A little light soy sauce
– A little dark soy sauce
– A small handful of fermented black beans
– A little minced ginger and garlic
Method for Garlic Sprout Twice-Cooked Pork:
Step 1: Order the meat online, and have it delivered from the supermarket. The meat is a bit narrow for making twice-cooked pork, and it’s not possible to cut it into large, thin slices, but we’ll proceed with what we have…
Step 2: Clean the meat and place it in boiling water to cook for half an hour. Use a chopstick to poke through the pork skin; if it goes through easily, the meat is cooked. Remove it from the water, let it cool, and slice it. Do not cut the meat too thin; a thickness of about two to three millimeters is appropriate. Clean the garlic sprouts, remove the ends, and cut them into sections about three to four centimeters long; avoid cutting them too long to prevent choking hazards for children.
Step 3: Gather the seasonings! As an authentic Sichuan person, the most delicious Pixian bean paste I’ve tasted is from the Quancheng brand! For those making Sichuan cuisine, be sure to recognize this brand!
Step 4: Heat the pan and pour in a small amount of oil, just enough to coat the entire cooking surface. This oil is to prevent the pork belly from sticking to the pan, so don’t pour too much, as the pork will release a lot of oil later on!
Step 5: Now comes the most thrilling part! Stir-fry the meat! Since the pork belly has been boiled and contains a lot of water, and the fatty part will release a significant amount of oil, it’s like adding a small amount of water to a pan of oil, leading to splattering… This step cannot be skipped, or the twice-cooked pork will be too greasy… Those who like fatty meat can disregard this! To continue, put the meat in the pan and stir-fry over medium heat while observing the changes in the meat. When the fatty part starts to turn slightly yellow, and there’s a small amount of pork fat in the pan, the meat is ready! Switch to low heat and proceed to the next step.
Step 6: Use a spatula to push the meat to one side of the pan, and add minced ginger and garlic along with a half-spoon of bean paste to the oil that has been rendered from the meat. As this is for children, I use a small amount of bean paste; those who prefer spicier can add more. Turn the heat to medium, and stir-fry the ingredients until fragrant. The bean paste must be fried to enhance the flavor!
Step 7: Once the ginger, garlic, and bean paste are slightly dry and fragrant, add a small handful of fermented black beans and stir-fry the ingredients. Fermented black beans and bean paste are the soul of twice-cooked pork! Don’t forget!
Step 8: Turn up the heat to high, and stir-fry the meat and ingredients together. At this point, add a little dark soy sauce for color and a little light soy sauce for flavor, and continue to stir-fry to mix the seasonings evenly with the meat. Due to the addition of fermented black beans, the meat and oil in the pan may look a bit messy and unappealing at this stage.
But, isn’t it all about the taste? As long as it’s delicious, that’s all that matters! After mixing evenly in step 9, pour in the garlic sprouts and start stir-frying! Since we’ve already added doubanjiang, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and fermented black beans, there’s no need to add more salt now; the flavor is just right! In step 10, stir-fry until the garlic sprouts are cooked through, which should take about a minute.
They cook quickly! Remove from heat! Plate up! Enjoy your Garlic Sprout Twice-Cooked Pork!
Cooking Tips for Garlic Sprout Twice-Cooked Pork:
1. When purchasing pork belly for twice-cooked pork, opt for a wider cut, ideally three to four fingers wide; mine was too narrow! Twice-cooked pork should be enjoyed in large, satisfying slices!
2. When frying the meat, towards the end, I couldn’t stand the awkwardness of holding a lid to block the oil splatter while stir-frying. I recalled someone mentioning that adding a pinch of salt to the pan could prevent splattering, so I added a teaspoon of salt, and it seemed to work; you might want to give it a try.
3. Don’t discard the broth used for boiling the twice-cooked pork! Use it to cook some radish or wax gourd; it’s incredibly tasty! Today, I used this meat broth to make a shrimp skin tofu soup, which is also a great source of calcium for growth! What a resourceful mother I am, hahaha!
There are tricks to making delicious dishes, and each of my recipes has its own little secret. You can search for ‘Sichuan cuisine’ to directly view my recipes!
