Pork belly, first poached until just cooked then sliced thin and stir-fried at high heat with doubanjiang, sweet fermented bean paste (tian mian jiang), leeks or spring onion, and dried chilli — until the fat layers render slightly and the lean meat becomes slightly crisp at the edges. Twice-cooked pork is the preparation that Dunlop identifies as perhaps the most representative of everyday Sichuan cooking — its technique (boil first, stir-fry second), its combination of doubanjiang and sweet bean paste, and its specific flavour balance (simultaneously savoury-fermented, slightly sweet, and hot) make it a complete study in Sichuan flavour principles.
**The first cooking:** - 500g pork belly, in one piece, placed in cold water. - Bring to a simmer with whole Sichuan pepper, ginger slices, and Shaoxing wine. - Poach at 90°C for 30–40 minutes — until a chopstick inserted meets no resistance throughout the lean meat, but the pork is still firm enough to slice. - Remove. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 30 minutes minimum — the cold pork slices more cleanly and the fat layers are firmer. Slice thin (3–4mm), across the grain. **The second cooking:** 1. Wok at maximum heat. Add the pork belly slices directly to the dry wok (no oil — the pork's own fat renders as it fries). 2. Fry, turning occasionally, until the fat layers begin to render and curl slightly and the lean meat develops a slight Maillard colour at the edges. 3. Add doubanjiang (2 teaspoons): fry with the pork for 30 seconds. 4. Add sweet fermented bean paste (tian mian jiang, 1 tablespoon): fry 30 seconds more. 5. Add leek pieces (3cm sections) or spring onion. 6. Add light soy sauce. A pinch of sugar. 7. Toss briefly — 30 seconds — until the leek is wilted but still slightly crisp. 8. Serve immediately. Decisive moment: The second cooking — specifically the 'lamp wick' moment when the pork fat layers have rendered sufficiently to curl the slice into a light scroll shape (the characteristic appearance of correctly twice-cooked pork). The fat and lean layers separate slightly as the fat renders, causing the slice to curl. This curling indicates the correct level of rendering — the fat is hot, rendered, and slightly caramelised; the lean meat below is crisp at the edges. Sensory tests: **Sight — the lamp wick curl:** Correctly fried pork belly slices in the second cooking curl slightly at the edges — the fat and lean layers respond differently to the heat, causing the slice to form a slight scroll shape. This is the visual indicator that the fat has rendered correctly. **Taste:** The two pastes (doubanjiang's fermented savouriness and tian mian jiang's sweet fermented depth) in combination with the slightly rendered pork fat and the crisp lean edges should produce a preparation that is simultaneously savoury, slightly sweet, slightly hot, and deeply complex — the signature Sichuan layered flavour.
Fuchsia Dunlop, *Land of Plenty* (2001); *Every Grain of Rice* (2012); *Land of Fish and Rice* (2016); *The Food of Sichuan* (2019)