Right Wing Nation

Speaking of lard, Twice-Cooked Pork is to Szechuan items on a menu as Moo Shu Pork is to Mandarin items: If a Chinese restaurant has any Western Chinese at all, it will have Twice-Cooked Pork. The problem is that it’s usually nasty.

I have about seven recipes for it, and a couple were okay, but I was never crazy about either. Then, I had it at the Szechuan Gourmet in midtown, and it was amazing, totally unlike what I’d ever had, from a restaurant, or any of my recipes. It wasn’t sweet, for one thing. For another, the pork was succulent and luscious.

So I started experimenting. What I had at the SG was pork belly and leeks. Sometimes, it also has bell peppers.

The first key is pork belly. Think bacon, because it’s bacon-to-be (cure and smoke pork belly, and you get bacon). Finding it is difficult, since we make all of ours into bacon and salt pork, but the local Asian grocery carries it. Again, think bacon, alternating streaks of meat and fat, but we cut the skin off; the Chinese do not. Mmmmm, skin! If you can’t find it, and unless you have a Chinese grocery with a meat section, you probably can’t, substitute boneless spare ribs. They are nowhere near as succulent, but they work.

The second key is to slice it as thinly as possible after the first cooking. If you don’t, the fat is too much, even for me.

The third key is don’t stir-fry the cooked pork slices too long. Think bacon. You don’t want them crispy. Yeah, they’re pale, but that’s okay. When you add the sauce, they don’t be.

The fourth key is don’t overdo the leeks. They can easily overpower the pork. Also, when you start cutting into the green, stop. I find that 1 of each (1 pound of pork belly, 1 leek, and 1 bell pepper) is ideal. I’m finally happy with the results, after playing with it for several months. So here it is.

Switching chili paste with garlic for hot bean paste gives a more honest, straightforward dish. The sweetness in my other recipes comes from way too much sweet bean paste or hoisin (depending on the recipe). I use hoisin, since I have more uses for it than sweet bean paste (and it’s a lot easier to find). About half my recipes add soy, “for color,” which is mystifying, since there’s plenty of color without the soy, but it’s better with than without. And I increased the black vinegar, to counteract the sweetness of the hoisin. So here it is.

Twice-Cooked Pork

1 lb. pork belly
1 leek
1 bell pepper (I use red, because I’m not fond of green pepper, but it’s up to you)
1 T. oil

Sauce ingredients:

2 T. chili paste with garlic (I like it better with three, but it’s pretty hot)
1/2 T. hoisin
1 T. dark soy
1 T. black vinegar
1 T. sesame oil

Cover the pork belly with water, bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Remove the pork belly and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

Mix the sauce ingredients.

Cut the pepper into small (about 1/2 inch) squares. Cut the leek on the bias into very thin slices (when you get up to the green, stop). Put the pepper and leeks on a plate.

Put the pork belly slices on their sides (they sit flat until you simmer them, and then, they curl). Cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife, as thin as you can manage.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a wok until smoking (you don’t need more than a tablespoon; the pork belly will render some of its fat). Add the pork belly slices, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until some of the pork belly slices just start to brown.

Add the veggies, and stir for another minute. Add the sauce, stir it around for a few seconds, then eat.

Mmmmmm, pork belly!

rightwingprof :: Feb.02.2008 :: Food :: 3 Comments »