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1
Place the pork belly skin-side down in a pot. Cover with cold water. Add the ginger slices and Shaoxing wine. Do not salt heavily. Bring to a gentle simmer and poach until the pork is just cooked through — a skewer meets no resistance and the juices run clear, not pink.
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2
Lift the pork from the liquid and allow it to cool completely, then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. The pork must be cold all the way through before it is touched with a knife — press the surface with a finger; it should feel firm and cold, not yielding.
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3
Pound the garlic cloves in a mortar until reduced to a smooth, cohesive paste with no visible chunks remaining. This step is where the dish lives or dies: sliced or roughly minced garlic will not integrate into the sauce, and the coating across each slice of pork will be uneven — the paste must be seamlessly smooth so that it suspends in the dressing.
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4
Combine the garlic paste with the light soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is uniform. Taste: the garlic should be assertive, the soy and vinegar in balance, and the heat present but not dominant. Adjust chili oil only — the garlic quantity is fixed.
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5
Using a sharp knife, slice the chilled pork belly across the grain into slices of 2–3 mm maximum. Each slice should hold its shape cleanly and show a neat cross-section of fat, meat, and skin. Arrange the cucumber strips across the serving plate as a base.
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6
Lay the pork slices flat over the cucumber, skin-side consistent in orientation throughout. Drizzle the garlic sauce evenly over the pork immediately before serving — not before. The surface of each slice should carry a visible, even film of sauce.