Sichuan province. Hui guo rou is a staple of Sichuan home cooking — made from leftover poached pork, returned to the wok for a second transformation. The dish represents the Sichuan philosophy of using every stage of an ingredient's preparation.
Hui Guo Rou (twice-cooked pork) is a Sichuan classic — pork belly poached first until just cooked, then sliced thin and returned to the wok to fry until the fat is rendered, translucent, and slightly curled. Tossed with doubanjiang, leek, capsicum, and sweet black bean paste. The double-cooking produces a texture unique to this dish — the fat is rendered but still yielding, the lean meat is firm but not tough.
- Korean bossam (poached and sliced pork belly — the first-cook stage as a complete dish in Korean cuisine); Japanese kakuni (slow-braised pork belly in soy and mirin — the Japanese long-cooked version); Italian porchetta (double-cooked pork — seared after roasting — same double-heat logic).
Chongqing Beer (Chongqing lager) or Tsingtao — the Sichuan context demands cold Chinese lager. The carbonation cuts through the rendered pork fat and doubanjiang richness.
Further training content for this entry is being completed.
- 600 g pork belly, skin removed, cut into 5 cm × 2 cm × 3 mm slices
- 30 ml neutral oil
- 60 g preserved mustard greens, rinsed and chopped
- 15 g fresh ginger, julienned
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 30 ml soy sauce
- 15 ml Shaoxing wine
- 8 g caster sugar
- 4 dried red chilies, whole
- 100 ml chicken stock
- 2 scallions, cut into 3 cm pieces
- Blanch pork slices in boiling salted water for 3 minutes; drain and pat dry.
- Heat oil in wok over high heat; sear pork until edges are golden, 3–4 minutes.
- Add ginger, garlic, and chilies; toss for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Stir in preserved mustard greens and cook 1 minute.
- Deglaze with Shaoxing wine; add soy sauce, sugar, and stock.
- Reduce heat to medium; simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until pork is tender and sauce is glossy.
- Fold in scallions and serve immediately over steamed jasmine rice.
- The moment where twice-cooked pork lives or dies is the fat rendering in the second cook — the pork belly slices go into a medium-hot wok and are left undisturbed for 90 seconds while the fat surface renders. The slice curls slightly as the fat contracts. When each slice has a translucent, blistered fat surface with slight charring at the edges, the rendering is complete. Add the sauce at this point.